Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Repent
by Crownless
Summary: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Repent is a co-written Fanfiction which surrounds a new set of cahracters, while briefly interacting with SEED's storyline. A young man and woman have been thrown into The Valentine War against their will, and strive to get out.


Foreword:

Gundam Repent came to my friend and I during a study hall one day. We began writing this together at first out of boredom; at least until people told us it was good. Therefore, we continue to work on it, still out of boredom, but also in attempt to keep you entertained and to prefect the story while still having fun. Gundam Repent takes place in C.E. 71, the middle of the war. The characters, aside from the original SEED characters, are all taken out of our daily life, as is the humor. We love writing this story, as well as experimenting with it. So we ask of you, please, give us suggestions, make comments; we'd greatly appreciate it. I'm sure you'd want to move on, so enjoy the story!

~The Crownless

_**Mobile Suit Gundam: Repent**_

**1 - January 24, C.E. 71**

"Come on Robbie, get up! You're gonna be late for your date!" His mom said as she walked by the door and flicked on his light. "Ha ha, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it."

Underneath his covers, Robbie moaned and turned away from the light. He could hear his mother in the next room trying to wake up his sister. His sister, he could tell, sprang up out of bed, cheered, and hollered about something. He was too tired to care about it and he closed his eyes once again.

He was halfway asleep when Jessica came running in. Robbie always despised her in the mornings; she was always way too hyper.

Jessica hopped on his bed and started jumping up and down at his feet. "Come on Rob! You got a date and I have an entire day to myself!" She screeched in a rather annoying way. Robbie mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over. "Now see? I told you not to be on your computer all night but did you listen? Nooo." Jessica said as she climbed off his bed. She stared at her brother half asleep under the covers and grinned mischievously. Her hands silently found the corner of his covers. "Waaaakeeee up!" She screeched, yanking the covers off him.

Rob mumbled something to himself and propped himself up on his elbows. "You're lucky I won't be here most of today, you know."

Jessica grinned and ran over to his dresser. She opened one of the small old drawers saying "Hmm..Let's see.." She started digging through his clothes. "You'll need some socks. Oh, and some clean undies." She giggled and threw a pair at him, then went back to the dresser. "Oh! Oh! Wear your camouflaged jeans! I want some! Can you get me a pair? Pleeeeeeease?" She said, pulling out the jeans and holding them to her waste.

Robbie laughed. "I'm not going shopping just for you, ya know."

Jessica frowned. "You suck." She said, throwing the jeans at him. "Here, wear the black shirt with the cool green lizards on it." She pulled out an old shirt from the bottom of a drawer, not bothering to pick up the clothes that fell out on the floor. "I like it, it's one of my favorites."

Rob shrugged and stood up. He yawned and walked over to Jessica. He held out his hand, and Jessica pulled the shirt away, teasing him. Rob rolled his eyes. "Guess I'll have to go shirtless then."

"Eeew." Jessica whined, and tossed the shirt to him. "Hey, you know you shrug too much right?"

He shrugged and turned out the door. Jessica ran past him and into her room. Their mother had gone downstairs, he knew because he could smell breakfast in the making. Rob sighed and walked into the bathroom. Everything was ready for him when he walked in. The shower curtains were drawn back and there was a towel on the floor. Washrags, three of them, red, blue, and green, were sitting on the side of the tub. The fan was droning softly when he walked in. _Mom must have gotten it ready after she showered._ _Very rare. She doesn't do that often, not since Dad disappeared on us._ He smiled, turned on the shower, and closed the door.

******

Rob was in the bathroom towel drying his hair when Jessica ran in. She had the phone in one hand and a half-eaten bagel in the other.

"Yeah, he just got out of the shower." A pause as she listened. "Well…" She said, looking Rob up and down. "He has pants on, but no shirt, and he's drying his hair, and his hands are wet, so I don't think he can come to the phone right now."

_Oh god._ Rob thought._ She's talking to Rachel. _Rob took the towel off his head, shook like a dog, dried his hands, and walked past Jessica taking the phone out of her hands.

"Rach?"

"Rob?"

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Sup?" He said trying to walk and talk over Jessica's 'Give it back!' cries.

On the other end, Rachel giggled. "Are you being mean to your little sister again?"

"Heh, as always, did you even need to ask?" He leaned up against the railing and watched Jessica run downstairs threatening to tattletale.

Rachel laughed. "I guess I didn't really need to. I called to say Mark and Erika are meeting us at the mall."

"Alright." Rob sighed. He moved from the railing and went into his room. "Who's providing the ride?"

"Whose ride?"

"Ours."

"Oh. Um..Hang on." She told him, and he heard her set the phone down. He put his own phone down and put on the black shirt laid out on the bed.

"Rob? You there? Rob?" He heard coming from the phone.

"Yeah, sorry." He said to her. "Just pulling on a shirt."

"Ah." Rachel said with a small laugh. "My dad says he'll drive us. How's eleven sound?"

"Uhh," Rob paused to look at the clock, it read 9:23. "Yeah, eleven's fine."

"Great. I'll see you at eleven then."

"Yeah cool."

"Bye Robbie."

"Later Rach." He hung up the phone and decided to check his email. Setting the phone down, he moved loose-leaf papers out of his way and turned on the computer. It droned and hummed loudly, the thing was old and rather stupid for a computer. Rob waited as it took its time to load up, and opened his email.

"Let's see.." He said to no one in particular. "Junk, junk, junk, more junk..Junk?"

A mail he received had no sender or subject. He sat there, wondering if he should open it or not. He did, it was just another ZAFT recruitment letter. Rob sighed. It'd be great to pilot one of those machines, a mobile suit, but his mother was so against war. He'd love to join; ZAFT could use all the coordinators they could get. His mother would have a fit though. "Cyrus 8 is a peaceful place." He could imagine her saying. He closed the mail and deleted it.

******

It was 9:45 when Rob went downstairs. He was rampaging through the refrigerator when Jessica came up behind him.

"You're gonna be late!"

Rob looked back briefly, and then went back to ransacking the fridge. "Jessica, it's not even ten o'clock yet." He pulled out a half empty jug of milk, examined it, put it on the counter, and resumed his raiding.

In the other room, he heard Jessica flop on the couch and turn on their TV. There was a news station on, reporting about the arguments between Earth and ZAFT. He heard his sister groan and change the channel. The media has been over exaggerating ZAFT's position lately. He found himself finding Patrick Zala's speeches annoying.

Rob came in and sat on the couch with a bowl of cereal. Jessica was still flipping through channels, trying to decide on one. It was a station that showed old cartoons from before the colonies were around. The show airing at the time was Spongebob Squarepants. Rob groaned and took a bite of his cereal.

When he looked up Jessica was staring at him. "What?" he asked through a mouthful of cereal.

"There's nothing wrong with Spongebob. And you know you're not supposed to be eating on the couch!" Rob shrugged at her and went on eating. Jessica folded her arms and turned her attention on the cartoon.

He finished and took his bowl into the kitchen. It was still only 9:57. Rob decided watching Spongebob would help the time pass.

*******

11:00 came by and the doorbell rang. Rob said goodbye to his sister and mother and walked outside. Rachel was standing there at the doorstep. Her long blond hair was tied back in a ponytail. He looked her up and down, grinning. It was the first time this year she'd worn a red low-cut sleeveless shirt and a short jean skirt. "Hey hon." He greeted her.

Rachel blushed and looked at the ground briefly. She looked up and smiled. "Hey sexy. Did I mention you look good in black?"

Rob walked you and kisser her on the cheek. "And you've always looked good in red." He said, slipping his hand around her waist as they started walking towards the car.

Rachel laughed. "This isn't getting in the way of anything, is it?"

"Nah, don't worry bout it. Let's just have ourselves a good time. We'll unplug the lamp first."

She covered her mouth with her hand, giggling, and slapped him playfully. "Oh, shut up!"

He laughed and gave her father a short wave as he opened the back door. He smiled at Rachel and bowed. "Ladies first." Rach smiled back and climbed in, Rob followed.

Her father looked back and smiled at the two, his thick mustache moving with the expression. "Hey there Rob, what's up?"

"Hey, nothing much Mr. Heath. How you've been?"

Mr. Heath turned around, putting the car in drive. "Been good my man, been good."

Rob nodded. "Cool. Thanks for the lift sir."

"Anytime." Mr. Heath said glancing back in the mirror.

"Rob, we're gonna meet up with Erika and Mark at the food court. Erika just called and told me they were waiting there."

"Aright, sounds good to me."

"Oh, and Mark wonders where his CD went."

"Oh damn I forgot."

"Hey, potty-mouth." Mr. Heath said from the front.

Rob looked away from the mirror. "Sorry Mr. Heath."

"Just watch your mouth around me kiddo." Rachel laughed. "If you two don't mind, I'm gonna turn on the news."

"Sure, go ahead Dad."

Mr. Heath played around with the stations, getting a lot of static, until he found a news station. The reporter had just started up on a new subject.

"There has just been a terrorist warning issued to the areas of Cyrus 8 and Crete 4. ZAFT scouts have confirmed the movement of 'The Wulf Project' in these areas. Special Ops are currently working to avoid any terrorist attacks on both colonies. We wish for civilians to remain calm and move about their daily lives, keeping in mind the closest shelter.

In other news, Chairman Patrick Zala of the.."

Rob tuned out the radio, staring at nothing in particular outside the window. Any terrorist threat would bother him, of course, but The Wulf Project in the area scared him. It bothered him that his father had been close to the leader, Don Wulf. Don and his father had been close friends and business partners after Don's family had come to Cyrus 8 from Earth. The two started their own business, which gained military and government support and bloomed quickly.

However, as tension began to rise between EAF and ZAFT, affecting naturals and coordinators, the two friends became tense. Wulf, being a natural, began to despise his partner very quickly. His father had gone out to dinner one night with Wulf, and never returned.

Days later, Don Wulf and his family disappeared. The Wulf and Schneider business collapsed, their building scheduled to be torn down. As the destruction began, the bodies of Kim Wulf and her two sons, Todd and Elliot, were found in the basement of the main building.

On that same day, an announcement was made concerning the emerging of a new terrorist group, The Wulf Project.

Rob gritted his teeth, clenching his fist tight. His father's body was never found, and Rob is one of the few who truly believe that Don Wulf is the killer.

Rachel's hand fell gently on top of his. Rob couldn't look at her; he was trying to hard not to cry.

**2 - January 24, C.E. 71**

Rachel and Rob stood in front of the mall and waved as Mr. Heath drove off. Rachel waited until the car was out of sight, as if her dad would hear, before turning to Rob. "Are you alright?"

Rob nodded slowly. He took a deep breathe while closing his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Rach asked him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah." He said with a deep sigh. He opened his eyes to look at her. "Let's just have ourselves a good time."

"Rob, if –"

"Ah, come on!" He said, slipping his arm across her back and letting it fall to her waist. He turned her towards the door; the cocky grin was back on his face. "I'll be fine. Let's just go find those two, they're probably lost."

Rachel gave him her worried look for a second, and then kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, tiger."

His hand rubbed her back. He gave her a weak smile. "Let's get this torture over with. We'll have some fun afterwards." They walked into the mall, Rob's arm around Rachel's waist, holding her close and never wanting to let go.

******

By the time they reached the food court, Rob had pulled himself together, and was now teasing Rachel as they walked.

"I do not!"

"You do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Rachel laughed and leaned into him. "I do not whine!"

"Yes you do! Look, you're doing it now."

"Oh, fine. You win this round. But I'll be back!" They both laughed.

From the middle of the food court, someone yelled to them. "Hey, lovebirds! Get your butts over here on the double!"

Rob looked around for a familiar face and found both Mark and Erika at a table for four. "Ever notice Mark's got a big mouth?"

Rachel grinned. "Erika's not much better." She said with a little laughter, and headed towards the table, Rob followed.

"Man, took ya long enough!" Mark complained as they neared.

"Hi to you too buddy." Rob replied. Mark snorted and folded his arms.

"We actually haven't been waiting that long, don't worry. He's just trying to make you feel guilty." Erika glared across the table at Mark.

"Tch. Ruin my fun."

Rachel sighed and took a seat next to Erika. "So, what's new?"

Erika shrugged. "Not much here. How bout you two?"

"We're doing well." She looked up at Rob. "Aren't you going to sit down?"

"Dunno. Mark might eat me."

Mark spread his arm out for a hug and puckered his lips. "Come to me Robbie Poo!"

Rob sat down slowly, cocking an eye at Mark. "Why do I hang out with you again?"

Mark pretended to pout, getting laughs from Rachel and Erika. "Robbie, now he thinks you don't love him anymore."

"Good."

"How could you?" Mark whined. He pretended to cry.

"Pretty easily, really."

Mark laughed. "Love you too man."

Rob grinned. "Sorry Mark, I'm taken." He said, putting his arm around Rachel's shoulders. Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed.

"So anyway," She said leaning forward on the table. "What's the game plan cap'n?"

Erika thought a moment. "Hmm..I guess we could go check out DJ's for a bit. I hear they have some nice dresses on sale. Checking out some music wouldn't be bad, and it'd give the guys something to do."

"Seeing my girl in hot clothing? I dig." Mark said folding his hands behind his head.

Rob sighed. "I don't know him." He said pointing a thumb at Mark. "Anywhere's fine with me, it's whatever you two want to do."

"Yeah, we know you're fine with anything Robbie. It's you're buddy here who seems to get bored easily."

Rob shrugged. "Ah, just give him ten bucks and throw him in the arcade. He'll be a happy camper."  
Mark laughed. "Well, I know I'm loved. But, really, anywhere's fine. If I get bent outta shape Muttman here can put me back in my place." He said pointing at Rob.

Rachel laughed and leaned over to Rob, her hand running across his shirt. "Such a good doggie, aren't you?"

Rob grinned. "Bow wow." He said taking her hand.

Mark stood up, pretending to stretch. "Whelp, let's get outta here before these two decide to have too much fun."

"Heh, shut it pussy cat." Rob told him. He stood up with Rachel close behind; his arm went about her waist.

"Meow." Mark said with a grin. He turned to Erika. "Allow me to help, my fair maiden." He held out his hand and bowed slightly.

Erika took his hand and made a courtesy as she stood. "Why thank ye kind sir." The two held hands. Rob pictured an elementary student couple, and tried not to laugh.

Rachel leaned against his shoulder then, their arms went about the others waist. "You know, clothes shopping is pretty tiring." She sighed.

"You haven't even started yet!"

"I know, I know. But just thinking about it wears me out."

"Aw, you'll be fine." He said. Rob leaned down to kiss her lightly on the forehead. "Come on, Mark and Erika have decided not to wait." He said nodding ahead where the two were already on their way out of the food court.

Rachel sighed. "I guess we should catch up, eh tiger?"

"Yup. Guess so." His hand went up around her shoulders, and they hurried to catch up.

*****

"How's this one Robbie?"

Rob made an about face. Rachel was dressed in an elegant light blue dress that fit nicely with her build. He tried to keep his jaw from dropping so he could at least finish the pretzel he had bought. "Oh my god Rach."

Rachel blushed and fumbled with the dress a little. "I don't know.."

Rob wolfed down the remaining hotdog and went over to her. "Rachel, it's beautiful."

"Think so?"

"I do. I love it Rach, it fits perfectly."

She blushed a little more. Rachel walked to the mirror, holding out the ends of her dress. She turned to him with a smile. "I do like it, it's a very nice dress. I think I'll buy it." Rachel walked back into the changing room.

Rob bent over to pick up the crumbled napkin he had dropped on the floor. He straightened and looked around for a trashcan. Finding one outside of the aisle, he walked over slowly and threw it out. Rob wondered if Rachel had finished, and turned to go back, finding Rachel right on his heels. "Shit." He whispered, jumping a little.

Rachel looked up. "What?"

"God wasn't expecting you to be right behind him."

She smiled. "Well tell God I'm sorry for scaring him." She fiddled with the price tag on the dress. "Hey, call Mark and see where they are while I go pay for this, will you?"

Rob shrugged. "Sure." He said reaching for his phone. They had only gone down a few stores, but it didn't hurt to call. It wasn't possible for either one of them to stay still.

He dialed Marks number, and watched Rachel as the phone rang. It rang 5 times, and then went to voice mail. _Odd._ He thought. Rob dialed again; still no answer. "Hey, Rachel," he called to her. "I'm going to step out and try calling." _Maybe I'm just not getting good reception._

"Ok, I'll be there in a second!" She called back.

Rob walked and dialed for the third time with still no answer. Outside the store, he stopped by one of the many couches set around the mall. He dialed a fourth, and this time he got an answer.

"Hello." The voice sounded deep and older. Defiantly not Mark.

"Who are you?" Rob asked immediately.

"Ah, but you know who I am." The voice stated.

Rob was aware briefly of Rachel dropping down to the couch behind him to watch. Suddenly, he did not want to let her out of his sight. "What's the meaning of this? Where's Mark?"

The voice laughed. "The meaning of this? For a blue and pure world, my friend. All for the preservation of our blue and pure world." A click as the voice hung up.

Robs eyes went wide._ For a blue and pure world? Did I hear correctly? Shit!_ He turned to Rachel. She stood up cautiously and worriedly, asking what was wrong.

"We have to go."

"What?" Her voice had a hint of fear in it.

"We have to go **now**," Rob said putting his phone away and taking Rachel's arm at the same time.

Rachel pulled her arm back and stood her ground. "Rob what's going on?"

Then there was an extremely laud sound, a horn of some kind, so loud it made them cover their ears involuntarily. Rachel dropped her bag and staggered into Rob, who held her close regardless of the pounding in his head.

It stopped as abruptly as it began. Rob looked around, confused and trying to ignore the tremendous ringing in his ears. Everything was still. Clerks and shopkeepers had come out to see what was happening. Rachel, too, had lifted her head from Rob's chest to look. People began to gather in groups and mutter quietly. Rachel took his hand and moved as close to him as possible. Rob didn't resist; he was scared, but she was terrified and lost. He felt a strong need to protect her at all costs.

Then, quite suddenly, the ceiling began collapsing. Rachel screamed and threw herself into Rob, throwing them both on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Rob caught something large and metallic silver that he knew wasn't there before as he hit the ground hard. Rachel came down on him, screaming and going into frenzy.

"Rachel!" He called. "Rachel stop!" He took both her hands and rolled himself over, putting himself on top of her to shield her body with his. "Rachel!!" He yelled in her face.

She stopped fighting and looked at him. Rob released her after she had calmed down. Pieces of the ceiling above them fell around the two. People were running frantically for safety, screaming and crying. Rob flinched as a chunk of cement from the second floor fell a foot away from them. _Christ._ He thought sharply. _We have to get out of here._

To the left of them there was a loud bang, followed by the screams of people. Rachel screeched and threw her arms around Rob's neck, pulling him down. He grunted, pulling her off his neck then dragged her to her feet with him. He took her hand in his and pulled her with him as they ran towards the nearest exit. She began sobbing, he heard, and he felt sorry she was in the middle of this.

Up ahead, he saw an exit where a clerk was herding people out. Rob became aware of the alarm and wondered when it had sounded. He shook his head, ignoring it and concerning himself with Rachel's safety. He sped up his sprint a little.

Then there was a gunshot, and not a second later did the bullet ricochet off the ground in front of him. Rachel screeched and hid behind Robs back. "Robbie!! Oh my god, we were just shot at!"

Rob ignored her as she clung to his shirt. Off to the left, where the first bang had come from, he saw a figure. _The pilot._ He thought. Rob turned to face him, making sure he pushed Rachel behind him. The man was dressed in a gray and black pilots suit, walking towards them with a pistol trained on Rob. _Dammit, _he thought. _If I make any sudden moves, he'd just shoot us._

_Though he might do that anyway. _Rob thought grimly. He was annoyed the pilot still wore his helmet with the tinted facemask and he couldn't identify the man.

Rachel was trembling and sobbing behind him. He risked taking his eyes off the approaching gunman and turned to comfort her.

"Rachel, please, you're going to be ok. Calm yourself down, alright?" He told her in a soft voice.

Rachel nodded and began to say something, but another voice cut her off. "You, boy. Turn around and come here."

The voice was deep and booming, very powerful sounding. Rachel flinched at the command and reached for Rob. He shook his head no and smiled at her, then turned around and walked to the gunman. He was getting close now; maybe ten foots distance. If only he could get close enough to disarm the man..

_No, don't do that. He's a terrorist, that's exactly what he wants._

"Come here." The gunman said, nodding to the area in front of him. Rob obeyed reluctantly.

"That's fine there." The gunman said, stopping Rob just out of arms reach.

"Do not hurt her." Rob said, glaring darkly at the man.

The man laughed a little. "I have no interest in her, Rob Schneider." A look of surprise crossed Robs face. "That's right, I know who you are."

Robs mind raced. Who the hell would come looking for me? Then it clicked.

"Don." Rob said with a hint of hatred.

"I'm happy you remember who I am."

Robs eyes narrowed. "Here to kill me? Just like you did my father?" Rachel whimpered.

"Here to make you an offer." Rob looked a little surprised. "Join me, Rob. Join me and we will put an end to the war."

Rob didn't hesitate. "Not a chance in hell Don."

"Need I remind you of the situation you're in right now? Right now, Schneider, you have a gun pointed at your head, and a terrorist to pull the trigger. Die right in front of your girlfriend, is that what you want? Your family has been killed, by the way, and I could just choose to move the mobile suit and let the building fall on top of you. I'm being pretty generous, if you ask me."

Rob noticed for the first time that the building had stopped falling around them. A giant hand was now above them, possibly the same one he saw as he fell. He also noticed that none of Cyrus 8's mobile suit defense team was trying to take control of Wulf Project. Something Don said bothered him. "My family..?"

"That's right. All dead. I enjoyed killing them. No resistance whatsoever. They just took their bulled to the head as if it were a shot at the doctors office."

Rage, fear, and sorrow hit Rob all at once. _They're dead, they're all dead._ He kept telling himself over and over. His mind created its own version of how they had died.

"Know what else, Rob? Your father was a fun victim. God now how fun that was. I shot his body until it was no longer recognizable. You damn coordinators don't deserve to exist!"

Rob's mind went blank. Before he knew it, he was charging at Don with a fist aimed for his face. He heard Rachel cry "No!" and for a second wondered what he was doing. As if in slow motion, a bolt of pain went through his chest, followed by a bang. _The gunshot. Oh my god, he just shot me._ Pain racked through his body as he hit the floor. Everything was going dark; he had to fight to focus. He heard Rachel scream, followed by another shot. There were voices yelling at each other. Two, he recognized, a man and a girl. New pain was brought by pressure on his chest. Rob cried out in pain.

He felt, rather then saw, someone's face close to his, and heard the voice clearly. "Know why I didn't aim for the heart? I want you to live. This colony has five days before we destroy it. I hope you find your way out by then."

Rob moaned as the pressure lifted off him. The words were echoing through his head. Without warning, something came down hard on his chest. Sharp pain shot throughout his body. Rob didn't know if he cried out or not, but he found the darkness very soothing.

**3 - January 27, C.E. 71**

_Voices,_ he thought. _Are those voices?_ Slowly, he opened his eyes. Rob tried focusing on the ceiling, but it was no use and he closed his eyes again. The voices were getting louder. Why were they yelling at him? Rob moaned. He wanted to tell the voices to let him be. All he wanted was to stay in the dark. But the voices continued to get louder and became clearer. A voice was calling his name. _Rachel? No, Rach is dead._ He moaned again and tried to open his eyes once more. Blinking slowly, he managed to force his eyes to focus on the ceiling. _Ceiling? But the ceiling came down. Where am I?_

Rob tried sitting but pain shot through his body. He cried out and fell back on the bed. _Bed?! Where am I??_ His mind began to race; he was having trouble dividing his thoughts between the pain and confusion.

Rob grit his teeth and closed his eyes. _Ok now, hang in there and think this through. _He slowed his breathing and relaxed his jaw, becoming conscious of someone yelling at him. Rob thought back to what happened at the mall. _That's right. Don shot me and I must have passed out. So, why am I still alive? Where am I?_ He stiffened as something landed on his shoulder. Rob opened his eyes painfully and turned to look at it. A hand, he realized, and followed up to find Rachel's face. She was smiling down at him; there were tears in her eyes.

"Rachel?" He managed to say weakly. She nodded. "Wh..where are we?"

"For now, we're safe."

"What?" Rob asked weakly. He looked around the room for the first time. The room he was in seemed to be a hospital, but something was different. It was too small. "Rachel, where are we?" He asked her a second time. Rob tried to sit up, but his chest rejected the action and he was hit with pain again. This time he ignored it and forced himself higher.

Rachel put a restraining arm around him. "Don't Robbie. You're just going to make it worse." She waited as he resisted feebly, then helped him lower back down to the bed. "You're going to be fine, the doctor said the bullet didn't hit anything major."

"Doctor?"

"Yes."

"What..?"

"Robbie, take it easy. We…we're on a ZAFT vessel."

Rob moaned a little and closed his eyes. "How did we..?"

Rachel took his hand in hers and stroked his hair with the other. "I'll tell you when you're better, okay? I promise. But for now you need to get some rest."

"Rach, my family.."

"I know Robbie. I know. Try not to think about that. Just get some rest, or you'll never get better."

Rob closed his eyes and said no more. He tried to calm himself down. Too much was going through his mind, adding itself with his physical pain, Rob couldn't help but cry. All he could think about was how Don murdered his family.

Rob cried himself to sleep, finding Rachel's presence extremely soothing.

******

"Rob?" He stirred under the covers. Rachel took his hand. "Robbie, can you hear me? Rob?" He opened his eyes and looked at her. He looked exhausted; Rachel felt some sympathy for him. "There's someone here who wants to talk with you, ok?" Rob nodded. Rachel looked at the visitor. "Would you like me to leave, ma'am?"

The visitor nodded. "If you could. I promise I'll be good." Rachel smiled and left the room.

The visitor took off her hat, putting it next to her on the floor, and smiled at Rob. "Hi." She said. Rob raised an eyebrow at her but said hi back. "I'm Captain Lauren Anders of ZAFT's Nazca class destroyer, the Encounter." Rob nodded, not knowing what to say. "The girl outside, Rachel right? She tells me you're Rob Schneider."

"Yeah."

"Son of James Schneider?"

"Yeah."

"I knew him once. Both him and Don Wulf." Rob winced at the mention of Don. "You know, she's very worried about you. Rachel, that is." Rob nodded his head a little, but said nothing. Lauren cleared her throat. "The Encounter has been sent to track down and destroy terrorist groups. We've been on The Wulf Projects tail for a good time now. It just happened that we stopped here and-"

"Here?"

"Cyrus 8."

"Are we still on Cyrus?"

"Yes, we are."

"How long has it been since you picked us up?"

"Three days, why?"

_Two left._ Rob grunted and shifted into a more comfortable position, trying hard not to hurt himself. "We need to leave Cyrus 8 by tomorrow."

Lauren looked at him puzzled. "Why?"

"Don..Don plans on destroying the colony."

Lauren was silent for a moment. "What about your friends and family?"

Rob hesitated. "My..my family was murdered. All of them. We don't know what happened to Rach's family. It might be better if..if we just assumed them all dead.." Rob looked away from the Captain.

Lauren sighed a little. "I'll talk to her about it. I'm going to let you rest, but I did need to tell you something." There was an awkward silence as Rob waited. "If you want our hospitality after you've recovered, you'll have to do something for us."

Rob looked at her. "Like joining the army?"

Lauren nodded. "We're short on staff. The bridge is in need of people, and we only have one pilot left. Even she isn't very skilled. If she tunes out, we're left just about defenseless."

"She?"

"Yes. Amanda O'Brien. A novice pilot Chairman Zala gave us, no younger then yourself."

"That's all Zala gave you?"

"Zala could care less about us. To him, we're disposable."

Rob closed his eyes, sighing. _Either we can stay and risk our lives with the army, or we can be left out to defend ourselves. Great.._

He opened his eyes at the sound of Lauren getting up. "Just wanted to let you know. You'll have plenty of time to think." She put her hat on and gave a salute, then walked out the door.

_Damn. _Rob let out a deep sigh. He could hear voices outside the door; the Captain was wasting no time. Rob tilted his head back and closed his eyes once again, settling down for more rest.

*****

Rob woke with a jolt, sitting up way faster than he should which hurt a lot. A hand pushed him back down effortlessly. "It might be better if you lie back down. Easier for me too." He looked around and found the doctor, whose other hand was tampering with equipment, and Rachel sitting silently in the corner.

The ship shuddered. "What's going on?" Rob asked as he lay back.

"I'm making sure you're not dying." The doctor replied without looking at him.

"I was asking about the ship."

The doctor looked up. "Fine, don't worry about how your recovery's going. Sheesh." The doctor walked over to a table and picked up a clipboard. "We're just taking off. Might be strange to the first time newbies." He ran his finger down the clipboard. "Alrighty then. I'm gonna have to ask you to be still like a good little injured boy while I get to do that routine check up all doctors do." The doctor went back to messing with the equipment around the room.

Rob relaxed a little, resting his head back again and closing his eyes and listening to the chat around him.

"So, what can we call you?" Rachel was asking.

"Eh," the doctor said uninterested. "Just Doc works."

"No other patients, Doc?"

"Nah." Rob heard a click followed by humming. "They're all either floating in space or in a cell somewhere. Oh well, no big deal." Rachel was silent. "'K, all clear!"

Rob opened his eyes half expecting to be shocked by something. "Done?" He asked. "You haven't even touched me yet."

Doc paused. "Yeah. And in no way will I be touching you. That's just not how I roll." He scribbled something down on the clipboard.

"That's not what I meant Doc.." Rob said. The ship was shuddering rapidly now; it was a little annoying.

"So, how long does the ship jolt around like this?" Rachel asked as if she had read his mind.

"Not too long Miss." Doc said. He tossed the clipboard on a table. "Whelp, I'm outta here. Please, only one person on the bed at a time, got it?" Doc gave a small wave as he walked out the door.

Rachel moved slowly across the room, not liking the movement of the ship. She took a chair next to Rob's bed and was quick to take his hand.

"You didn't want to go back?" Rob asked her quietly. Rachel shook her head. "Why not?"

"I couldn't." She told him. "With your family dead..Mark and Erika..And who knows what's happened to my family..I wouldn't have been able too. I would have.." She broke into tears. She cried down into his chest violently. Rob winced a little with pain.

He let her cry; stroking her hair. "It's alright, Rach. Everything's alright." He said, trying to convince both her and himself.

Rachel sat up suddenly. "No! Everything's not alright, damn it! Your entire families dead! My family, they're gone too. All of our friends, everything I've ever known. The stuff we grew up with, that fucking madman is going to get rid of them all!" She paused, sobbing and catching her breath. Rachel looked into Rob's eyes. "Robbie, a building came down on us. A god damned building. You were shot, Rob. You were **shot**. We hitched a ride on some fucked up ZAFT ship whose orders are to follow the bastard who killed your family, my family, and our friends. We're fucking chasing after him!" Rachel yelled. She began crying again.

Rob exhaled painfully. With great effort, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and faced Rachel. His are went around her shoulders and he pulled her closer. "Rachel, calm down, alright?" He didn't get an answer, she just kept sobbing. Rob continued. "We still have each other, right? You're still ok, I'm recovering, and we have people who will look after us, right?" Rachel nodded. "Our friends and family, there wasn't much we could do to help. Not under the conditions, Rach. We just..We just have to accept it." He didn't like saying it, but it was the truth. He'd need to force himself over it and help Rachel through as well.

There was a silence broken only by Rachel's sobbing. Rob couldn't find the right words to say, and was becoming dizzy. He knew he couldn't sit up like this much longer. He hugged her tight, trying to wash out the waves of dizziness that hit him. He finally had to let go and dropped to the bed in pain.

Rachel followed him down, laying across him stomach. "I'm sorry Robbie." She said trying to control her sobs. "I just need to cry.."

"Then go for it." He told her softly. He put a soothing hand on her back. She broke down, unable to hold it. Rob didn't make an effort to stop her. It'd be best if she got it all out.

She cried, apologizing to him repeatedly. Rob told her it was ok, stroking her hair gently. He listened to her sobs and wished he wasn't in the condition he was in; that he was more able to help her.

Rachel lifted her head off him, putting a hand on his chest. He cried out a little and winced, making her move the hand quickly which was followed by an apology. She buried her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry Rob. It's all my fault. It's all my fault." She cried. Rob decided to let her settle down before he said anything.

It took her a while, but she finally came around. She sobbed a few times; Rob took her hand for comfort. "She set aside a room for us." Rachel said finally. "She didn't like the idea of putting us in the same room. Of putting a guy and a girl in the same room, if you know what I mean. But she said she couldn't get us separate rooms.

"You agreed to joining ZAFT?"

"Yeah..but she agreed to let me begin service the same time as you do; after you're released. Lauren wants me on the bridge. She wanted you to become a fighter pilot." Rachel looked away from him.

"Damn." Rob said quietly. "I hoped they wouldn't decide to early. She told me there was another pilot, but she's a novice."

Rachel nodded. "I met her briefly. She was nice, but I did get the impression she didn't know too much of what she was doing."

"Damn it." Rob sighed. "It's not like I'm going to be much better."

Rachel squeezed his hand. "Are we doing the right thing? Joining ZAFT's affairs with terrorists…look at the condition of this ship! They're low on crew, and only one pilot left.."

"But why would they be so short?"

"Because we're inexperienced." A new voice said, making Rachel jump. They looked towards the door where the Captain was standing. "All of us are. Very few of us know what we're doing." Lauren crossed the room and sat on an extra chair. "We all came from an acting station. I myself am only fit to be an acting captain. There isn't a veteran among us." The kids were silent. "We need you two."

Rob made eye contact with Lauren. "You have more experience then us. We're just civilians. What could we possibly do that would save you guys?" He challenged.

"You could pilot, for one. She could coordinate on the bridge."

Rachel started to speak, but Rob beat her to it. "Why do you see me as a pilot? Why am I so important to you?"

Lauren looked him in the eyes. "Because you're a coordinator whether you like it or not."

**4 – January 29, C.E. 71**

"What does me being a coordinator have to do with me being a pilot?"

"Do you have no sense of honor? Where's your loyalty to your kind? ZAFT needs you."

"His kind?" Rachel interjected. "Coordinators are no different from naturals."

"Wrong. Coordinators are an entirely new species! With our superior advantage over naturals we will carry out Patrick Zala's visions of a world without naturals."

"Naturals are humans too Lauren!" Rachel said with a raising voice. "Just like coordinators! We're no different from them. Why do they deserve to die but we to live?"

"We are the future of mankind. The key to success." Lauren replied, staring Rachel down. "Now, from here on out I will be addressed as Captain Anders. Rachel, a spot has been reserved for you on deck. Rob, as discussed, you will be given a suit. Lucky for you, it's never been piloted before. Reason being, no one can."

"No one can?"

"None of us has been able to."

"And I just magically know how, right?"

Lauren smiled. "You're the son of Schneider, aren't you? It's only fair you should use what your father died designing for revenge." She waited a second for it to sink in for the two of them, then stood and headed for the door with a slight nod. "We couldn't save Cyrus 8. I'm sorry." She left the room quietly.

There was silence for a moment as Rachel looked down on Rob. "What your father died designing? What did he do exactly, Robbie?" Rob lowered himself on the bed and turned away from Rach. She pressed again. "Rob, what did he do?"

"My father..he and Don designed Mobile Suits for ZAFT. He hired a set of engineers on his own, and started to create a Mobile Suit. He called it a Gundam. The Gundam Repent." He waited a minute to see if Rachel had anything to say. "My father wanted to use it to end the war. It was supposed to be used to end the slaughter we've created. My dad told only a select few people about it. I was the only one in the family to be told. When he died, I thought the Repent was gone forever." He clenched his fist. "Just who the hell is Lauren Anders?"

Rachel was looking down at the ground. "Why didn't you tell me? I knew your dad helped developed mobile suits for ZAFT, but a Gundam? They were a soldiers fable, not even supposed to exist." She looked up at him. "Your dad made one?"

"Yeah.."

"And what would you have done with it Robbie? When would you have told me? Would you have just randomly disappeared on us?"

"I'd end the war with it. Then I'd take my revenge on Don." He met her look. "I would have given you a choice to come wit me." Rachel was silent. Her eyes were staring through him. "Rach, I don't want to stay here, not with them. When I leave this damned ship, will you come with me?"

"Not like I have much anywhere else to go." She said. She crossed her arms across her chest, staring at the ground. "No home, no family..we're all that's left Rob. We're all the other has." She stood up. "I'm going to let you take a rest, I'm sure your body could use it." Rachel gave him a peck on the cheek. "I love you Rob." She left the room quietly.

"Love you too Rach." He said to no one. Rob closed his eyes momentarily, just to rest them. He was asleep in a heartbeat.

*****

"Ow!"

"Easy, easy! I said do it slowly!"

"That was slow!"

"Well then do it slower!"

"Gahh.." Rob winced as he used his arms to sit up. He grunted and fell back.

"Ah, not yet. You're doin' it this time." Doc said as he caught Rob.

"I can't Doc; it hurts way too much."

Doc sighed. He walked to the back of the bed, placing both hands on Rob's back. "Up and at 'em!" he said, pushing and forcing Rob into a sitting position."

"Jesus Christ!" Rob yelled in pain. He sat there wincing.

Doc put a hand on his shoulder. "Congratulations, you sat up." Rob glared at him. Doc looked over to Rachel, sitting across the room, and winked at her. He went off to consult his clipboard. Rachel moved over to a chair closer to the bed.

"Ohhkay..let's see.." Doc said. "I'll be back later, and we'll do this again if I find you laying down." He looked up from the clipboard. "Hey, soon you'll be walking!" He flashed a thumbs up and a cocky grin.

"Go to hell.." Rob replied through gritted teeth.

"Tch, you're welcome for saving your life. Where's my thanks?" He tossed the clipboard on his messy desk, shaking his head. "Man, teens these days." He gave a half wave as he walked out the door with one hand in his jacket pocket. "Laters!"

"Rob, I'm scared." Rachel said admittedly, avoiding eye contact.

"What?"

"I don't like being under their control. I don't want to die here."

"What else can we do? It's not like we can go home." Rob said quietly.

"I know that. It's just-"

Rachel was cut off by the sound of the door opening and a girl's high-pitched voice squealing "There you are!"

The two looked towards the door. The visitor was a girl who looked Rachel's age. She had shoulder length red hair, a small build, and a cocky look on her face. The jacket of her pink pilots uniform was tied about her waste. She stood with her hands on her hips. Rob got the impression she did whatever she wanted.

"Wow, you're sitting up! Are you supposed to be doing that?" She asked crossing the room. She came to stand beside Rachel. "Man, when Anders said we had a new pilot, I didn't think he'd actually be _cute_." The girl said, examining Rob.

Rachel and Rob exchanged confused looks. "Uhh..who are you?"

The girl snapped to attention. "Sir! Ensign Amanda O'Brien of ZAFT Enforcer, sir! 4th Division GINN Prototype pilot." She dropped her salute, leaning forward over Rob with her hands on her knees. "Just call me Amy." She winked.

"Okay..Amy..Hi. Uhm, stopped for a visit I suppose?"

"Yup!" She said with a smile. Amy straightened, looking at Rachel. "Hi!" She squeaked, putting out a hand.

"Hi." Rach shook her extended hand.

"You must be his sister? Cousin? Friend? Ohhh…Girlfriend? What's your name?"

Rachel Heath. And yes, I'm Rob's girlfriend."

"Wow! Lucky girl!" Amy put an arm around Rachel's Shoulders. "Are you two gonna..you know.." and then in a low whisper, "do it?"

"Excuse me?!" Rachel screamed. Her face turned a bright, embarrassed red. Rob couldn't help but laugh. "What are you laughing at?!" She yelled, her face turning brighter.

"Nothing, nothing." Rob said. He managed to stop for a second, but began again when he saw Rachel's face. He held his chest, still laughing.. "Ow, hurts, ow."

"Serves you right!" Rachel said folding her arms.

"Oh, cheer up!" Amy told her with a laugh. "You know it'll happen sooner or later!"

"Well..we do have to share a room." Rob said thoughtfully.

"Ohhh, really? Ah!" Amy took Rachel's hands. "You are SO lucky!" Rach looked blank. "Anders wouldn't let me stay in the same room with another pilot, a guy named Joe Driver. He was captured by the Naturals, never returned. Shame, he was cute too." She sighed a little. "In any event, I got his room, but after he was gone."

Rachel grinned a little. "I guess she didn't want you to..you know.." then mimicking Amy, "do it." Rob laughed, falling backwards onto the bed, in pain but laughing harder.

"Ha ha, good one! I like you." Amy said smiling. "Can I just call you Rach? For short?"

"Sure, I'm used to it by now."

"'K, great!" She looked back at Rob. "Wonder if he hurt himself."

"I'm alright!" He called, which was followed by an 'ow'.

"Ah, he'll be fine." Rachel sighed. She walked over to him nonetheless.

"So anyway," Amy said following Rach. "I hear you get the Repent?"

"I'm supposed to, yeah."

"Heh, good luck piloting it."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"None of us has been able to pilot it. Joe, Steve, Collin, myself, and a whole bunch of other pilots. We've all tried, and all failed. Heck, we couldn't even make the hand give a thumbs up!"

"What's so hard about piloting it?"

Amy looked at them astonished. "Are you kidding? It's a Gundam! They're a myth, not even supposed to exist! Only a perfect coordinator can pilot one of them. And they can use it for whatever they wanted; chaos and destruction or they could save lives. One of the most lethal weapons known to mankind in the right, or wrong, hands." She sighed. "But you've gotta be highly skilled for that."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna have to learn." Amy looked puzzled. "Anders says either the two of us contribute to the ship or she drops us off in the middle of space."

"Well, that sucks." Amy leaned forward on the foot of the bed. "Anders is a little hardheaded." Everyone was silent for a moment. "You know this is a dangerous business, right? You could be out there on the field at one point, but then in a split second your life could be gone."

"I know." Rob said quietly. Rachel said nothing, but she took his hand.

"Yeah..Whelp, I'm gonna go. Got stuff to do." Amy said. She rose, cracking her neck. "Get well soon!" Amy squeaked in her high-pitched voice as she walked out the door with a heartfelt wave.

Rachel and Rob watched the door for a minute, expecting her to come waltzing back in. Rob looked up at Rachel. "God help us."

*****

"Up and at em!" Doc's voice came through the dark, followed up by the painful light. Rob groaned and turned his head away from the light. "You heard me kid." Doc said as he walked by, tapping the head of the bed twice.

Rob blinked and looked at him. "Five more minutes?"

"Heh, I ain't your mother. Time to sit up." Doc brought his signature clipboard over and waited patiently, tapping his pen.

Rob raised himself on his forearms slowly. He stopped, wincing. Doc stopped tapping as he waited. Rob grunted, using his arms to force himself into a sitting position.

"Good work kid." Doc nodded and consulted his clipboard. "Where's the little lady? I'm surprised she's not here yet."

"My guess is still asleep, like most normal people." Rob replied through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, well," Doc paused what he was doing for a second to make eye contact. "Welcome to the military." He set his clipboard down on his desk. "Guess what we get to do next."

"What?"  
"Stand and walk." Doc said with a grin.

"Yay." Rob said indifferently.

"Hey now! Don't get too excited! I'm gonna make you do it say..tonight or tomorrow morning." The door opened and Rachel appeared in the doorway with two breakfast plates. "Oh! Breakfast would be nice right about now." Doc exclaimed, examining his watch. He looked down at his desk quickly. "Hm, yup, I'm outta here. Ta-ta for now!" He left with his usual half wave.

"Hey." Rach said sitting down next to him. She handed one of the plates over.

"Hey. Thanks for getting me something."

"Don't worry about it." She looked at him for a minute. "How you feeling?" Rachel leaned forward to feel his forehead.

Rob shrugged. "Alright. Tired, just woke up."

"It shows." Rachel withdrew her hand. "You're not hot anymore."

"How could you resist me?"

"Oh," Rachel glared at him. "You know what I meant." Rob laughed. "Coming back to your normal self, are we?"

"Trying to." He smiled at her and began eating slowly. They sat in silence until they were both done, Rachel finishing first.

She broke the silence. "I saw the Repent. Amy showed it to me."

"Yeah?"

"It's..I don't know. It's impressive."

"Tell me about it?" Rob asked. He put the tray down, leaning closer to her.

"The body of it is black. It has two huge wings; both are silver. It's trimmed silver too. It's body and joints, that is. Amy said they kept four beam guns for it and that it held two sabers. It has an overpowering feel to it."

"Wow, he actually did it." I saw the blueprints he drew, but I never thought he'd actually do it." Rob smiled a little. The wings were my idea. I was little when I suggested them."

"You must miss him." Rachel said quietly.

"Yeah, I do. I miss him a lot." He was silent for a moment. "Don needs to die. I'm sorry, but he really deserves it."

Rachel nodded. "He killed everyone Robbie. My friends, my family, they're all dead. And not just them, but all those innocent people! He's a slaughterer!"

"Why didn't he kill us Rach? Why did he let us live when he could have shot us both right there?"

"I don't know." Rachel squeezed his hand. "I just wish that-"

The ship suddenly lurched forward, cutting Rachel off. She screamed out of surprise. The ship lurched again, very sudden and forcefully, making Rob fly backwards from where he was sitting on the bed. His back hit the edge of the bed and he tumbled over to land quite hard on his side. Rachel, once sitting on a nurse's chair with wheels, had been tossed across the room, her chair overturned by the door.

Rob saw Rach getting up on her knees, which he took as a good sign. He tried to lift himself up but couldn't. The fall he just took definitely didn't help towards his recovery.

The ship lurched back and fourth violently like a kid shaking his toy during a tantrum. They were both tossed around, Rachel ending up by the door and Rob against a wall.

Suddenly it stopped. Rob opened his eyes. The entire room had been overturned, and Rachel had gotten to her knees once again. A sudden shot of pain hit Rob, forcing him to close his eyes against it.

He lay there, clutching his chest and moaning against the attacking pain. A hand shook his shoulder; he looked up with effort.

Rachel was above him, brace and squatted in expectance of another thrust. Her lips were moving, but he couldn't comprehend what she was saying. The ship was shook like a dog making both of them tense.

Rob forced himself to think. He looked up at Rachel and gathered she had been asking him if he was alright.

"Did it reopen?"

"What?"

"The wound."

Rachel removed his hand from his chest while turning him slowly to lay on his back rather then his side. "It isn't bleeding. Does it hurt?"

Rob winced, resisting an urge to yell at her. Of course it hurt. "Yeah. The tossing around definitely hasn't helped."

The Encounter began its lurching fits again. Rachel covered Rob in an attempt to guard against any flying objects, holding him close. Something metal slammed into the wall just next to them, making Rachel whimper. The Encounter calmed down again. Ob took the opportunity to look around the room. Objects were now piled on top of one another. Rachel's hand came down on his shoulder, instead of the floor, as she pushed herself up. Rob cried out as his nerves screamed.

Rachel looked down at his cry and quickly removed her hand as she realized what happened. "I'm sorry!" She moved to squat beside him. "What's going on?"

"Hell if I know." Rob said as he gritted his teeth. "Help me sit up against the wall. Laying down will do me no good."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He sighed.

Rob began to push himself up with his arms. Rachel put her hands on his back, making him wince, and helped him sit up. He cringed a little and Rachel held him as support.

The ship began moaning and shaking. An alarm was sounded; a very obnoxious buzzing that echoed in the room and throughout the hallways.

The door flew open. Standing in the doorway was Doc. "Jesus Christ." He whispered loudly to himself as he examined the room. In the commotion in the halls, someone ran into him. Doc cursed the man under his breath and stepped into the room.

"Alright kiddies," He said. His face had a disappointed look as he looked through the wreckage. "Time to leave."

"What?"

"You heard me." Doc moved cautiously across the room, bracing himself with the movement of the ship. He fought his way over to where the couple sat. "Take him under his arm, miss. I'll get the other." Doc carefully lifted Rob's injured side to lie over his shoulder, and then put his arm around the teen's waist. Rachel followed the example by putting Rob's left arm over her shoulder and her hand across his back. The two hauled Rob to his feet and started towards the door.

**5 – January 30, C.E. 71**

"Where are we going?

"The Repent." Doc grunted and shifted Rob on his shoulder uneasily.

No one bothered them since they left the recovery room. The crew was running around in all directions, concerned with protecting the ship and tending to the injured.

They stopped at an elevator. Shortly after pushing the button, two medics burst out the second the door opened, carrying between them a man on a stricter bleeding severely. Doc sighed and led them through the door.

"Wulf Project's attacking." He said once the elevator was in motion. "They attack Cyrus 8 looking for the Repent. Of course, they didn't find it, and blew the place up anyway." The elevator came to a halt and its doors creaked open, signaling them to step out. Doc led them to the left. "They knew we were tracking them, and decided to do something about it. We were heading for the moon, supposed to assist in some fighting against that damned legged-ship. The Wulf's set a trap." The ship rocked, stopping both Rob and Rach, but Doc pulled them on irritably. "If we weren't short low on crew, we'd be fighting back against the Wulfs. There is no way this ship'll survive, whether we run or fight." Doc stopped at a closed door, using his free hand to punch in a PIN number. The door opened obediently with a hiss.

"We're cutting you two loose; you don't deserve to die here. Your only way to leave is by piloting the Repent. After all the trouble we went through to get that thing, we can't lose it here."

"You really expect me to pilot it Doc?" Rob asked. "Look at the condition I'm in!"

"Suck it up." Doc told him. "You either die here, or go on, though injured, and live to fight another day." They stopped in front of a huge, black, metal foot. "Guess which road I'd choose."

Rob looked up. The Repent stood idle, but the thing was glorious. Rob felt overpowered by it. "I have no clue how to operate that thing. It's not like my father showed me how, you know."

"You'll figure it out." Doc let go of Rob and pushed a button, which opened the Suits cockpit. An escalator type of transport worked its way down to them. Doc pushed the two into it. "Amy's agreed to provide protection. We want you to get down to Earth and deliver this to Andrew Waltfeld in Africa. From there Repent will be taken off your hands, and you can do whatever the hell you want." Doc hit a button and the escalator rose in response. "G'luck! Don't die out there; Repent could change the tide of this war!"

The escalator stopped at the cockpit, allowing Rob and Rach to step off.

The cockpit was huge. A cushioned pilots chair dominated the center. Screens covered the sides and the front, surrounded by thousands of buttons and switches.

Rob ducked in, looking around. "Rach, there's only one seat."

"Theres room behind the seat right? I'll be fine there."

"You sure?" Rob asked quietly looking back at her.

"Yeah, you've got to figure this thing out anyway." Rach said with a smile as she climbed by him. Her hands were shaking badly.

Rob looked behind him for Doc, but the man was gone. He climbed into the chair cautiously. The cockpit hissed closed, folding into another screen. Rob examined the control panel in front of him. He flipped a green switch just to see what would happen. The switch turned red and the suit hummed and beeped to life. A small screen blinked itself on. It displayed the letters ZAFT, spelling them out to spell Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty in front of their flag. The words stayed for a second before merging into a blue screen displaying a small-scaled figure of Repent and thousands of different options.

"Wow Robbie." Rachel whispered looking over his shoulder. "What is all this?"

"Uhh.." There was a click above of him and a viewfinder folded down in front of him. A keyboard rose out of the armrest of the chair to rest peacefully in front of the screen like a computer.

Rob grabbed the joysticks and placed his feet on the pedals. He moved the right stick to the left. In response, Repent's right arm moved to rest in front of him. He put weight on the pedal, moving Repents right leg. Spotting a beam rifle and a black and silver shield on the hanger wall, Rob awkwardly maneuvered Repent towards them. "Think these are ours?"

Rachel shrugged. "Hell, why not?"

"You've been cursing a lot lately." Rob grinned as the Repent reached for the arms.

"I'm going to die anyway, what's it matter?"

"It's not being a very good Christian."

"Not fair, you're Atheist!"

"Yeah, and?" Rachel mumbled something he couldn't hear. Rob decided he should focus on getting out of this mess alive. He focused all this attention on the Gundam. Repent accepted the offering of the shield and gun. Rob toyed with moving them and aiming until he felt semi-comfortable with both. "Whelp, all ready?" Rachel nodded and held onto his seat.

Rob faced front and started Repent out on a run. Shortly before reaching the open runway, Rob activated Repents thrusters. The Gundam slowly and reluctantly obeyed. "Come on!" He shouted at it, giving it more thrust. The drop off and gunfire was nearing and Repent was barely off the floor.

A small screen indicated that Repents wings had opened. It then showed them the Gundam's feet had lifted off the ground. Rob didn't have to be told they were airborne; Rach had already said so by screeching as she almost fell backwards.

He could see the emptiness of outer space nearing, cluttered with gunfire that lit up the darkness like fireworks. A GINN floated in front of him for a second, bringing up its gun and aiming at something in the distance. As it pulled the trigger, the GINN was hit by a beam and exploded.

"Shit!" Rob screamed as the Repent flew through the debris. The Gundam rocked and moaned through the red cloud that had just been a GINN. Rob got the feeling they had stopped moving, and slammed down on the petals. A beam just missed the right wing.

The overhead screen in front beeped twice, then displayed Amy's face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't have a damn clue!"

"First of all, look down at the control panel that displayed ZAFT on startup. It should be showing a circular grid and moving white dots." Rob looked down. It was doing just what she said. "Don't take your eyes off the battlefield! That's what gets you shot!

"Now, the grid is your range. The square in the center is you. The white dots are your enemies. You can lock onto them from far away using that. Now, follow me, we're going to –"

Amy's transmission was cut off as something hit the Repent from behind. Rachel hit the back of the seat, screaming. Rob flew forward and slammed into the small control panel in front. Cursing, he looked up into the beam gun of an enemy mobile suit. Time froze for a second as Rob watched the gun grown green. Suddenly, a pink and grey GINN was between the two. It blocked the shot, drew its sword, and swung. An explosion followed soon afterwards.

The GINN looked behind it. Amy's face came back on the screen. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Rob sat up with a wince.

"Where's Rachel?"

"Uh," Rachel sat up with a moan behind him. "She's here."

"You know there's a thing called a seat belt right?" Rob glared at her. "Follow me. We're gonna skip the moon and go straight for Africa." Her face disappeared and the GINN sped forward.

Rob took control of the Repent and trailed after her. Ahead, Amy was blasting her way through mobile suits, trying to clear a safe path.

"There, to the left of us, is Alfa; Wulf Project's flagship." Rob looked over. An enormous black and grey battleship was overpowering the Encounter. "And that suit standing on top is the Projects leader himself, Don Wulf. I'm surprised he's not coming after us."

Rob zoomed in on Wulf's suit. The type displayed as unknown. "What's he after?"

"What you're piloting. Most likely what he came for. Alright, we're exiting the field. Hopefully things won't be so rough now. Just keep following me." Amy disappeared from the screen.

Rachel shifted herself around to fit between Rob's seat and the right hand side of the Gundam. "Ever think something like this would happen?"

"No. Not in a million years."

"I'm already homesick." Rachel smiled weakly. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.

"We'll be alright." _I hope._ They flew in silence.

Rob occupied himself by looking through all the files stored in Repents computer, trying to figure out what he could do with the thing. Nothing seemed very useful; it was like reading another language.

"Wow, Robbie." Rachel stood up with her hand on his shoulder. She was looking at the other screen.

Rob followed her eyes. The two mobile suits were flying right next to the moon. "Wow."

"That's amazing. It's true, the Earths moon really is beautiful."

"They say Earth is even more amazing."

Amy's face reappeared for the first time since they left the battlefield. "Man, what a sight. We'll be entering Earth soon; thing are gonna get hot." She disappeared again.

Rachel sat back down, looking around the pilots chair to watch the moon. Rob began closing down all the files he had opened; he'd look at them some other time. A sharp pain traveled up his arm and into his chest. Rob winced against it and doubled over a little.

Rachel jumped up as soon as she caught him bending over. "Robbie, are you okay?" She put her arm around him even though she was unsure if he needed the bracing.

"Yeah." He sat back and took a deep breath. "Yeah I'm fine." He smiled at her. Rachel gave him an uncertain look, but moved to her original position in the back.

"Alright, listen up." Amy blinked on the screen again. "I have maybe five minutes to explain this. The Earth's got an atmosphere, as I'm sure you know. We'll be going down very fast, and it'll get pretty hot and extremely rough. Now, open up the OS and pull up the – SHIT!"

Amy cut off communication. Rob looked around. Everything outside seemed normal, but the Repent had started beeping furiously. "What's this all about?" He was surveying the cameras.

Suddenly, from the nothingness right outside the cockpit, a mobile suit appeared. Its gun was trained on the Repent. "Fuck!" Rob acted on instinct. Without knowing exactly what he was doing, Rob pulled on the controls and pushed down on the pedals. The Repent flipped its hip in reaction, turning sideways and blocking the blast. Rob didn't wait; he grabbed the beam saber that rested at Repents side and swung it. The saber passed through the enemy suits midsection. The suit split in half, and the pieces exploded.

"Rachel..I just killed someone?"

"Yeah.." Her voice was as dazed as his.

Amy cut in. "Wow! Amazing job. They've gotta be Wulf's, I can't see how they snuck up on us. They're after Repent. I want you to continue on down to Earth without me."

"But I have no idea wha-"

"Look. You just got your first kill. Congratulations, 'cuz I thought you'd tune out. You'll be able to figure out how to get to Africa without me." She lowered her voice a little. "If I live through this, I'll come find you. If not, it was nice meeting you two; Robbie and Rachel. Good luck." She stopped transmitting and her suit disappeared.

"Shit." Rob whispered. He was nervous now. Robs hands were sweaty and shaking, being accompanied by pain in his chest. "R-Rachel. I want you to hand on tight, alright?" She nodded.

Rob focused on the Repent. He activated the thrusters and flew at top speed towards Earth. He was only focused on reaching his destination, and was failing to dodge the blows being thrown at him. The Repent lurched and beeped with every hit.

"Get the hell off my back!" He screamed at the pursuers, not knowing if they could hear him or not. He turned the Repent around, sheathing the saber and bringing out its gun. His shield blocked a round of bullets aimed for the cockpit. The Repent fired, hitting one of the three enemy suits and blowing up its head. Rob threw the shield aside and pulled out a saber with the left hand. He fired, catching the headless suit and blowing it up. A beam grazed Repents torso on the left hand side.

Inside, a piece of equipment cracked and blew. Rob felt something brush the side of his face, but he ignored it. He turned Repent to the left and charged the enemy firing blindly. The enemy suit fired, clipping one of the Gundam's wings. Rob reached the suit, swinging his saber across Repents body and slicing off the enemies shooting arm. He put his gun up against the suits cockpit and fired twice. The suit tumbled backwards into space and exploded.

Fire was hitting his back. Rob maneuvered the Repent into a flip, avoiding some fire. He holstered the gun and drew another beam saber while charging the last enemy. As he neared, Repent caught a bullet at the shoulder, but Rob pushed it forward. As he neared, he brought the sabers above his head, in a X-shape, and brought them down on the enemy suit. The suit exploded immediately as the sabers passed in through the shoulders and out through the hips.

Rob sat there, with Repent holding its X attack, listening to the failing beeping and his own breathing.

**6 – January 30, C.E. 71**

"Robbie.." Rachel whispered from behind, quiet and worried. "Rob?" She put a hand on shi shoulder and he flinched. "Robbie, look at me."

He did with effort. Rob was breathing hard and his hands were shaking. There was a cut across his left cheek where a piece of metal had scratched him. Rachel smiled gently. "You're bleeding." She reached out to touch him. Rob flinched away, bringing his own hand up. His shaky hand touched the cut and came back down bloodied.

He looked at Rach pleadingly. "Do you have a cloth..or something?" She shook her head. Rob looked at his hand, and without any other options, wiped it on his jeans. With the sleeve of his shirt he dabbed at the cut, cursing such a little thing for bleeding so much.

"Rob." He looked up. Rachel was looking at him with a horrified look.

He dropped his sleeve. "Rachel, what's wr-"

She hugged him hard. He winced back a little, and she let go. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" She looked down. "It's just..I thought we were dead!" She wiped tears away. "This isn't right Robbie. The killing, the war, just everything about it! It has to stop!" The left hand side camera flickered and exploded. Rob turned away, and Rachel jumped and grabbed onto him. He hoped he wouldn't need that. Rachel hugged him again. "I'm scared, Rob."

He winced and hugged back. "I know. I'm scared too" The Gundam began beeping; it was detecting enemies approaching them. "We have to keep moving though."

Rachel released him with a nod of understanding. As she took her spot behind his chair, their pursuers threw gunfire. Rob sheathed Repents sabers and turned towards Earth, fleeing with the Gundam's thrusters at full power. He prayed the Wulfs would let him go as he neared Earth.

They did, but only because of what the Repent soon encountered; gravity. It took effect quickly, making their decent much rougher and hotter. The Repent began beeping at Rob furiously as they descended. The cockpit was heating up and the Gundam was lurching so much Rob fought to stay in his seat. Things began flashing across screens and Rachel was yelling in his ear behind him to figure out what was wrong.

"What is it?" He asked the Gundam. "What do you want!!?" He tried to pull the machine up, but it didn't help any.

He had lost control of the Gundam entirely. Nothing he tried would work. The Repent fell towards earth rapidly. Rob was pulling at controls frantically, hoping to figure out what was wrong.

The ground on the screens was getting closer and closer, at an alarming rate. "Shit!" He cried as he pulled at the controls again. Behind him, Rachel screamed and grabbed onto his seat.

The Repent was showing the ground at 2,000 feet below and getting nearer. "Rachel, watch your head!" He yelled while fumbling with the equipment in front of him.

Repent hit trees, hard. Rob went flying forward, slamming into something in front of him and loosing consciousness.

*****

"Is it alive?"

"Who cares if it's alive? It's a damn coordinator!"

"You don't know that! He could be a natural. Besides, coordinators are human too Mike."

"Bah! Let it die!"

"No. We're going to try to save him."

"Hmph!"

_It? Are they talking about me?_ Rob tried opening his eyes. Two pairs of small feet stood by him, turned away. His eyes closed again.

"I don't see why. He'll just recover and kill us all! Just leave him here and let the chum die of blood loss."

_Blood loss? Am I losing blood? Oh God, what about Rachel?_

"Oh, shut up!" Go see if there's anyone inside or laying around the machine."

"Bah!"

Something poked Rob's shoulder. It shot searing pain through his body even though the action had been soft. It happened again, this time Rob cried out a little.

"Hey, someone's in here! A girl! She's unconscious, got a cut on her forehead, but looks okay."

"Don't move her; she may have broken bones." The boy kneeling over Rob called to his friend. "Looks like this one's coming back to us."

Rob opened his eyes again. He observed he was lying on his side, a good ten feet from the Repent. A boy with brown hair looked down at him. The kid didn't look older then 12 years. "Hi!" He exclaimed at Rob loudly. Rob moaned and shifted to push himself up. "Don't, please." The boy told him. His small hands gently pushed him back to the ground. "You're bleeding, and I still don't know if you have any broken bones. Hang tight, okay? Someone's coming to help." The boy turned Rob carefully to lie on his back. "Hey, Mike, can I use your jacket? We need to do something about the blood."

"Use your own jacket!"

"I didn't bring mine."

"What about the girl?"

"Put her on her side and just run here. You can go back afterwards."

Rob coughed painfully. The pain that shot through him was horrible. He felt cold, lightheaded, and unattached to the world. He had to fight to breath slowly and shallowly.

"Thanks." Something was pressed against his chest. Pain attacked once more as the boy applied pressure. "See if you can't wake the girl up and see if she's okay."

Rob looked towards the Repent. It lay twisted around amongst the trees. He couldn't think of how he could have been thrown from it during the fall. The boys companion was hopping up onto it and climbing his way to the cockpit.

"Rachel.." He said weakly, receiving a confused look from the boy over him. "R-Rach.." He said again. For the second time he tried to get up.

This time the boy didn't try to stop him. Rob forced his arms to push. He had only lifted not even a foot off the ground before collapsing. The boy pushed the jacket back on him without a word.

Rob looked at his machine again. He was concerned for Rachel, and wished he could be there for her right now. The boy was talking to him, but Rob couldn't understand what he was saying. Instead, he tilted his head back and welcomed darkness.

*****

"It's an interesting story. The one she told me, that is." The woman in the wheelchair was talking to him quietly, sitting in the corner of this bedroom lit only by the light from the window. She was watching as a girl tended to Rob's chest. "Sounds almost like fiction."

Rob watched as the young girl moved across the room, opened a drawer and pulled out a small kit. The pale girl brought the kit across the room and pulled out a long needle and sting. Rob winced and turned away.

"I'm sorry we don't have much to drug you with. With the war going on, we can only receive fresh medicine once a month."

"It's alright." He was watching the pale girl again. She was threading the needle carefully, her eyes drifting from it to the woman in the wheelchair.

"Do you have any questions before I leave?"

Rob tore his eyes of the girl above him. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the handicapped woman. "What did you do with Rachel?"

"Rachel is fine, resting."

"Was she okay?"

"She has a broken arm, concussion, and minor cuts. She is in better shape then you are." The woman wheeled around the bed and over to the door. "My name is Dorothy Parks. If you need me, ask any one of the kids for Mother. They'll bring me." She left with a silent nod at the girl.

The pale girl closed the door behind Dorothy. She picked up the needle she had set down and slowly walked to Rob's side.

*****

"How does it feel?" Rob only moaned. "I wish we could give you better medical care. The hospital is so far from here.."

Dorothy wheeled over to him and backed herself into a corner. "What is that black angel you rode in on?"

Rob turned to look at her. "It's called a Gundam. Its name is Repent. I-gah!" He paused with a grunt against pain. "We don't mean any harm with it."

"So it's a war machine?" Rob gave her a nod. "Were you on some sort of mission?"

"We were supposed to be on our way to Africa, so we could get rid of it. Honestly, we're not soldiers. We're civilians!"

Dorothy still looked doubtful. "We'll give you our hospitality. We are human after all. You'll be welcomed here as long as you cause no damage. I can't make promises about the kids though. Most of their lives have been destroyed by the ZAFT army."

"I understand." Rob said quietly. He tilted his head back against the pillows. He could hear Dorothy wheeling around the room. After a short moment, he watched as the light on the wall from the open door disappeared. Rob closed his eyes, telling himself to just deal with his pain and fall asleep.

*****

February 14, C.E. 71

"Hey Robbie?" He heard Rachel's muffled voice from outside. "Rob, you still in there?"

"Yeah!" He called out to her. Rob leaned back down and continued examining the green wire in his hand.

Rachel appeared in the doorway, shivering. She was wearing on of Dorothy's coats. "Come on Rob. You'll freeze to death out here." She moved into the cockpit gingerly, careful of where her right arm went. "Rob! Snow's coming in!"

"Yeah." He said uninterested. He was looking from the wire to a socket and back.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Rachel had taken a seat in the pilots chair of the Gundam and was peering over his shoulder.

"Nope." He decided to try to connect the wire to the socket. It sparked on contact, scaring him. "Shit!"

"God, you scared me! Did it shock you?"

"Nope." Rob was already looking for another place to stick the green wire.

Rachel sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're frozen! Come on, I don't want you to freeze to death on Valentines Day." She prompted him, adding a kiss on the neck. "Why'd you come out here without a jacket anyway?"

"Didn't think I'd need one." He found a socket and put the wire in, braced for sparks, but this socket accepted the wire.

Rachel was rubbing his shoulder. "Why do you feel so tense? Come on, Mother offered to make us something warm."

Rob sighed. "Alright." He closed the tangle of wires behind the pull down panel. He stood up as a chill ran down his spine, looking around at his cockpit. Snow had indeed begun piling onto the Gundam's open hatch. _Snow on Valentine's Day. Could have been romantic in another time._

"Want the jacket?"

Rob looked at her a minute, coming back to the world from zoning and trying to figure out what she had asked him. "Uh, no. Keep it." He crossed his arms across his stomach. "After you." He nodded at the doorway. Rachel went obediently. Rob followed, closing the hatch behind them. He turned around the moment a wind picked up; snow blew into his face. He shielded his eyes and moved ahead of Rachel, offering his hand to help her down. He shivered and noticed his hands were red. _Huh. Might have been colder then I thought. _The wind had begun blowing harshly into their faces as they walked back to the Orphanage. The couple huddled themselves together as close as possible against the wind.

*****

"Why would you leave without a jacket?"

"I don't know."

"Was it snowing when you left?"

"Barely." Rob said with chattering teeth. He was seated by the fire. A fresh cup of hot chocolate was steaming at his feet, barely touched. Dorothy was sitting across from him, watching.

A kid ran by the doorway. "You shoulda freezed to death, 'ya stupid coordinator!"

"Mike!" Dorothy yelled after him as he disappeared. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I'm sure you've noticed by now, but Mike doesn't take kindly to coordinators."

"I could tell." Rob shuddered and wrapped himself a little tighter.

"So, just what exactly were you doing?" Rachel walked in from the door behind her with a sweater tied around her waist.

"Working on the Repent."

"That black angel again?" She nodded a hello at Rachel as she walked by the wheelchair and sat on a couch. "What do you two plan to do with it?"

Rob and Rachel exchanged looks. "We're taking it to Africa."

"I know that. What I meant was what you actually plan on using it for."

"To end the war." Rob slunk closer to the fire.

"How?" The couple looked at her. "How do you plan to do it? The deeds of one person will not end a war."

"We don't know." Rachel answered. "We'll do it though."

"All 'ya gonna do is kill us all!" Mike had some back. He was a small kid with short black hair and a loud voice. "Just as ya'all has been!" He was standing in the center of the room now, fists clenched. "I hate you! I hate you all!" Dorothy called his name but he ignored it. Mike began advancing on Rob. "You're gonna use that black machine to kill us, ain't ya? I'd bet 'ya do that just for kicks!" He had his fists drawn back behind him and was now close to Rob's face. "Kill us all, ain't 'ya? Rip us apart like we was toys! You ain't superior in no way coordinator!" Mike kicked him as hard as his legs could in the shin, and then ran out of the room crying.

Dorothy sighed as commotion rose in the hallway behind her. "I should make sure he's okay. Leg alright?"

"Uh, yeah." Rob said, shaking it around a little.

"Good. Sorry about that, again." Dorothy wheeled her way out of the room. "Dinner will be at 7:30, if you're interested." She informed them on her way out.

Rachel moved her way over to sit next to him by the fire. "How's the arm?" He asked her.

"Alright." She shrugged. Rachel leaned over to put her head on his shoulder. "I can't wait to take off the cast. It's itchy. Feeling warmer?"

"Yeah."

"This place is too kind to us. All this hospitality for nothing in return."

"We'll give them something in return."

"Like?" Her head lifted in interest.

"I don't know." Rachel's head lowered again.

"You're still shivering." She laughed. "It feels funny."

Rob laughed a little. He reached down for the hot chocolate that sat untouched. As he brought up his hands, he noticed that he was indeed still shaking. He took a small sip with warmed every inch of his body as it traveled to his stomach. The temperature change made him shudder. "Damn. I don't like Earth anymore."

Rachel snuggled her head into his shoulder a little deeper. They sat together listening to the crackle of the fire and the voices of the orphans in the parts of the building. After a moment of silence, Rachel stood up cheerfully.

"Want dinner?"

Rob shrugged. "Not really. Why?"

She reached down and parted the blanket, taking one of his hands. "Good. Come with me." She pulled him up gently. He allowed her to lead him. The two went down the hallways into Robs room, where Rachel sat him down on the bed and closed the door.

*****

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah. We need to get back on track."

"Why so soon? It hasn't even been a month yet, much less a week after you took that cast off ma'am."

"Oh, Mother, my arm's fine, look!" Rachel wheeled her arm around in a circle. She smiled. "We've both recovered, it's time to move on."

Mother nodded understandingly. "We won't forget you, on Saint Mary's word."

"We won't forget you either, Dorothy." Rob said with a nod.

"I hope I never hear your names again, stupid coordinators! I hope you suffer! Suffer!" Mike was leaning and yelling out of the second story of the building. Someone pulled him back in as he was shaking his fist. The pale girl appeared in the window and waved to them.

Mother sighed. "You have definitely changed the outlook of life in some of these kids. We put some food and water in the back of your black angel, hope you don't mind. It's our gift." She eyed the Gundam. "That thing is amazing. It took us forever to get into it!"

Rachel knelt down in front of her. "We would have been dead if it weren't for you. We owe you a lot Mother."

Dorothy shook her head. "You owe us nothing. We're all human; we couldn't just sit there and watch you die." She nodded towards the Repent. "Are you sure that thing will move in its condition?"

Rob shrugged. "Who knows for sure." Rachel stood up and made her way towards the Repent. "Well, guess that's that." Rob gave Mother a small kiss on the cheek. "We really do owe you a lot."

"Don't mention it." Her eyes drifted up to the Gundam again.

Almost all of the kids from the orphanage had come out and were standing behind her, watching. A small girl holding a red cloth, perhaps seven years old, ran to Mother's side. The girl whispered something in her ear. Mother shook her head and pushed the small one forward.

"Uhm.." The girl looked down at her feet. Rob remembered seeing her around the orphanage, but couldn't recall a name. He knelt down to the girl's height. The girl lifted the red cloth in both of the palms of her hands, looking like an offering. "I figured that and angel needs a cross. Even if God's angel isn't pure." She looked up at him with big light green eyes. "Please take this. It will keep you safe and remind you of all of us." She unfolded the red cloth to reveal a black and silver cross strung on a glistening silver chain.

Rob lowered his head. The small girl slipped the necklace over him. When it dropped from her hands, the cross rested in the center of his chest.

Rob looked up and gave the girl a smile. "Thank you. It means a lot to me." The girl blushed, handed him the red cloth, and retreated silently.

He turned to Mother. "Well, we're off." He scanned the children behind her. "Be safe, and thank you all!"

Dorothy waved. "Don't worry about us. Make sure you don't die out there."

Rob laughed lightly. He gave a short wave to everyone before he turned and walked away.

Rachel had already opened the cockpit and was leaning out, waving and saying her good-byes. Rob gave another wave as he was lifted into the cockpit. Rachel made her way to the back of the Gundam as he came in. There were tears in her eyes.

Rob shut the cockpit door as he listened to Rachel moving things around in the back. "It isn't much. Two jugs of water, a few salads and sandwiches." She sighed and sat down. "Hope this isn't hurting them."

Rob took the cross off and handed it over his shoulder to her. "The little girl gave it to me." He brought the Repent to life.

"What'd she say?" Rachel was examining the necklace.

"'Every angel needs a cross. Even if God's angel isn't pure.'" The screens blinked to life, displaying the small group in front of them.

Rachel slipped it over his head. "An angel huh?" She leaned forward on his chair. "Did we really change them that much?"

"I don't know." Rob raised the Repent from its kneeling position. The Gundam blocked out the low sun behind it, creating a makeshift eclipse.

Rachel tapped his shoulder. "Look Robbie." She was pointing at the building.

Rob didn't see anything different. "I'm not seeing.." The Repent's shadow caught his eye. Standing at its full height with its wings expanded, the Gundam cast a shadow that resembled an angel. "Heh, their black angel." The kids from the orphanage were all jumping or waving at them, yelling good-byes.

Rob raised the Gundam's arm to make the same half wave, half salute Doc had once given so many times before. He turned the Repent carefully and walked away without being able to look back.

*****

"So what's the battle plan Cap'n?"

They were airborne now. Rob had waited until the orphanage was well out of sight before lifting off the ground. "We have to get to Africa. They're our only option for repairing this thing."

"Great. Which way's Africa?"

"Hell if I know." Rob was pushing buttons, desperate for any available map. "We'll just follow the coast lines once we reach them."

"It'd be south right?"

"Yeah, we're heading that way." Rob pointed to a small compass in the corner of a screen in front of him. It displayed an S at the end of an arrow.

"Well," Rachel sighed and sat against the back of the Repent. "Guess we'll just have to wing it."

"Too bad this thing doesn't have autopilot."

Rachel was watching the scenery fly by. "Rob," She came back up to the back of his chair. "Do you think we'll ever see Mark and Erika again?"

Rob was mad at himself for forgetting about them. "Well, if they were captured by Wulf Project.." He trailed off. His mind was going through all the possibilities. Not one of them was pretty. "We can only hope."

Rachel leaned back, silent. "Robbie." She called after a minute.

"Yeah?"

"I have to pee."

*****

They had stopped short of a deserted coastline. The beach was in view, and behind it a vast ocean, which seemed to stretch forever. After surveying the area, Rachel ran off to take care of business.

Rob looked at what they were given by the orphanage. He hoped it would last; he had no idea how long it would take to reach Africa. He powered down the Repent. God only knows if it operated on a battery.

From the distance, Rachel screamed shrilly. Rob dashed out of the Gundam immediately. He jumped the length from the cockpit to the ground, landing with a wince but on his feet, and ran in the direction Rachel had gone.

She screamed again as she appeared from the woods, running to him as fast as she could. Rob stopped. "Rachel, what happened?"

She ran into him, squeezing him tightly. "The man..he was.."

"Rachel, what's wrong?" He took her hand.

She moved away and took him with her. Rachel led him deeper into the island to where she had ventured, walking quickly.

They entered a clearing littered with remains of a mobile suit. Rachel drug him further without giving him a chance to look at his surroundings. He determined it was the result of a random battle.

Rachel stopped. Rob looked over her shoulder. She had stopped in front of a disfigured mobile suit torso. The cockpit was blown open and there was fresh blood in the doorway. Leaning over the side, Rob looked down on the pilots seat where a freshly shot ZAFT uniformed man lay.

**7 – March 2, C.E. 71**

Rob looked up from the body to examine the area. There were the remains of a mobile suit alright. However, it looked like there was only one. The ZAFT soldier looked recently killed. Was his assassin still lurking?

Rob leaned in the cockpit carefully, being sure not to get any blood on him. He reached in and took the holstered pistol on the body. Whatever happened, this guy certainly didn't have the time to use it.

He put the weapon around his waist and stood up. "We shouldn't stick a round Rach." He began walking swiftly back to the Repent.

"Why take the gun?" Rachel asked in a shaky voice as she trailed behind him.

"The soldier was recently killed. That blood was still wet. And there's only the debris of one suit." He looked back cautiously and scanned for any movement with his eyes.

They reached the Gundam. Robs hand was down on the gun, ready to fly at moments notice. Rachel began climbing the kneeled figure without a word. She sent down the lift rope Rob had rejected to use when he came down. It came down with its mechanical hum and waited for Rob to put his foot in the holster it offered.

He climbed on, holding onto the rope with one arm as it lifted him to the cockpit. He relaxed a hair as he climbed into the cockpit with no signs of danger.

Rob powered up the Repent. He became more laid back with the familiar sounds of the Gundam. Behind him, Rachel sighed with relief.

Rob moved the Repent to stand. With shock, he noticed something standing in front of his Gundam. A beaten blue and white mobile suit displayed on his screens. The suit hovered just near where they had found the dead pilot; its beam saber was pointed at the Repents torso as it stood waiting.

*****

Rob froze at the sight. Why did the pilot wait until they had gotten back into the Gundam?

"Rob, are you hungry?" Rachel asked. She wasn't watching, she was moving things around in the back. "We could have a salad." She looked back over her shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asked when she saw him stiff. She looked in his direction, gasping when she spotted the suit, and froze as well.

If the suit had attacked then, they would have died.

But it didn't. It just sat there, saber pointed.

"Rach, maybe you should get down. Not quite sure what'll happen here.." The dead soldier was ZAFT. This suit looked like a prototype, could be Earth Forces. It'd make sense.

Rob opened a communication link with the suit. He wasn't sure if the pilot was listening or not. "Please, let us go. We're not looking for a fight."

The suit answered. Rob was only receiving audio; he couldn't see its pilot. "ZAFT or EAF?"

"We're neither. We want no part in this war. Please."

"That'd be why you're not in uniform? Who sent you? What type of unit is that black thing?"

"We were on Cyrus 8. We're meant to give this thing to an Andrew Waltfeld in-"

"Waltfeld? The Tiger? You coordinator bastards!" The suit cut off the link. It charged the second it was cut, saber searching for its prey.

"Fuck." Rob drew his own saber. It glowed to life in front of him. He put the Repent into a boxers stance, the shield arm in front protectively and the saber ready to spring.

He let the pilot come to him. As Rob anticipated, the suit attacked by bringing its saber over its head. The Repent blocked it effortlessly with the shield. Rob brought up its leg and kicked the enemy suit away, not hard enough to do real damage but hard enough to make it stumble.

He tried calling out to the pilot again. "We don't want to fight! Just let us through!" The pilot refused to listen; the suit came again.

"Fine." Rob mumbled. He set down the shield. Repents free arm moved to its hip and back up, bringing with it another saber.

Repents wings opened. Rob ran the Repent forward, both sabers trailing on the ground at its side. The enemy suit swung, this time from the right. Rob blocked it with the left hand saber hard enough to make the suit recoil. With the suit wide open, he swung the same left saber at its head, disregarding his instinct to go for its midsection. The Repent took off the suits head with ease.

The suit staggered back, but the pilot was still looking for a fight. He raised the sword arm once again in vain.

Rob rested Repents left arm at its side and used to right to slice off the suits sword arms with a smooth vertical motion. It its left hand, repent flipped the saber so the blade ran along its forearm. With an upward motion, Repent took off the shield arm as well.

Rob dropped the Repent to one knee while sheathing the left hand saber with one motion. With the right, he cut the suits legs just above the thighs, detaching both legs from the torso.

The torso fell in a heap amongst its amputated parts. Rob killed the right hand saber and put it away. He stood up and reattached his shield. He then walked the Repent past its dishonored opponent silently.

*****

"I wonder what his motive was."

"I don't know."

"I'm glad you didn't kill him Robbie."

"I felt the urge to go for the cockpit. I just couldn't. I really didn't want to kill him."

"I'm glad you didn't." Rachel repeated. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "What time is it?"

Rob looked down. "Uh, almost 6:30."

"6:30? Look at it out there. The ocean's beautiful!"

They had left their duel field and were flying through the ocean. Both of them were amazed at the beauty of it. Though aggravating at times, Rob thought he could get used to Earth.

"Wonder when the sun sets."

"Don't know." Rachel flopped down in the back with a sigh. "Man. Too bad this thing didn't come with a TV." Rob gave a short, weary laugh. "Look Robbie, dolphins!" Rachel sprang up again and moved closer to the right camera.

Rob looked at the screen. Sure enough, there was a group of dolphins bouncing in and out of the water. Rob sighed. "Rachel?"

"Huh?"

"You remind me of a little kid."

Rachel laughed. "Do I seem that hyper?"

"Yeah."

"You seem out of it." She leaned on the shoulder of his chair.

"I'm tired."

"Eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

She sat back again. Rob hated how quickly women noticed how someone was feeling.

They traveled silently for a while. The Repent hummed and beeped at him on occasion. Night fell and Rob watched the ocean grow calm. It reflected a beautiful moon on its dark waters. He began thinking about the Encounter, Amy, and where the Wulf Project was. It scared him to think they could be right on his tail. He hoped they wouldn't come looking for him. Not now.

Rob's stomach growled. He acknowledged for the first time he was indeed hungry. "Hey Rach, could you pass up a salad?" He didn't get a response and heard no movement. "Rachel?"

Rob looked back. Rachel was in the corner, asleep. Rob debated on reaching back for a salad. He did, being as silent as possible and leaving the Repent to hover.

He put the salad on his seat. Before going back to his chair, Rob took off his lightweight jacket he had tied around his waist. He covered Rachel with it, spreading it over her like a blanket.

Rob went back to his chair. He ate the salad and flew the Gundam with one hand. By the time he was done the small meal, it was 10:27 and he was still seeing ocean.

*****

Rachel woke slowly like a kid whose father had just turned on the light because it was time for school. It took her a few moments to get her brain together and organize her thoughts. She slowly came around and tried to take in the situation around her.

The first thing she noticed was they weren't moving.

The second was that the Repent was not on. It made no humming and admitted no beeping.

The third was that the cockpit was open and it was overlooking an ocean. Not of water, but of sand.

She stood slowly, letting the feeling back into her legs. Rob's coat slid off her. Rachel picked it up; surprised she didn't notice it before.

She made her way to the front of the Gundam and took a seat in the open doorway. Behind her, in the pilots chair, Rob lay asleep. His body was fit uncomfortably in the chair sideways so that his legs dangled over the side and his left arm hung off the front of the seat.

Rachel gave a small smile. She decided to let him sleep; he probably needed it. She put his lightweight jacket on and sat on the open door. Rachel sat silently, watching the sun rising and the sand blowing around below them.

*****

Rob awoke slowly, hearing someone calling his name. He closed and opened his eyes many times, trying to come back into the world. The voice yelled his name. Rob sat up with a start.

"Look!" Rachel was at the doorway, pointing frantically outside. The jacket on her was blowing in a furious wind.

Rob stumbled out of the seat. He almost fell over his legs were so stiff. He went to the cockpit and looked out, trying to keep the wind out of his hair and eyes.

He spotted a huge shadow that covered the ground, moving in their direction. He looked up. A large ship, shaped like a letter 'H', was the source of the shadow. The base of the thing was white.

Rob sat down. The thing didn't interest him anymore; he was too tired to care. He watched the shadow travel across the sand as he slowly drifted off.

"What do you think it was?"

Rob looked at Rachel. For a moment, he couldn't comprehend what was said. "Uhm..I don't know."

"What's the matter?" The wind caused by the huge ship had stopped. Rachel was brushing the hair out of her eyes.

Rob slouched against the frame of the door. He sighed and leaned his head back. "Exhausted."

Rachel fit in across from him. She sat cross-legged. She put her hands on his knees. "What time did you finally get to sleep?"

"Uh. We landed about 3 in the morning. I didn't shut it down shortly before 4." He closed his eyes. "I went out like a light."

Rachel took his arm, trying to look at his wrist. "Wow, it's only 11 now."

"Rach."

"Hm?"

"I'm buying you a watch." Rachel laughed. She moved in close, putting her head on his chest.

Rob was fighting to stay awake. He was so close to falling asleep but he forced himself to stay awake. He could feel Rachel moving around slightly, making herself more comfortable. He felt her arms slip between his arms and rest on his lower back.

Rob fell asleep and awoke on and off. He'd force himself awake, and then fall asleep with the soft sound of Rachel's breathing.

He had drifted off into sleep now, but awoke suddenly. Something had vibrated in his pocket. The first time had awakened him, thinking it was Rachel. It went off again, scaring him. Rob jumped, making Rachel jump in response. It vibrated a third time. Rob shot to his feet, hitting his head on the doorway, and reached into his pocket where his phone was vibrating.

He rushed to answer without looking at the number. "Hello?"

"Rob?" A guy's voice asked.

"Who is this?"

"It's Mark!"

Rob was thoroughly confused. "What?"

"It's Mark! Dude, you're okay! I can't believe it!" Mark paused. "We've been trying to find you guys for the past two months. We thought you died! This is the first time your phone actually worked. What's been happening?"  
Rob was shocked to the point her dropped the phone. It crashed to the floor at his feet. He could hear Mark calling his name. Rob was too astonished to touch it. He watched as Rachel picked it up and grew the same expression.

"What happened to you guys?" She yelled into it. She listened, nodding her head. "Tell Robbie." She thrust the phone at him. Rachel looked disbelieving.

Rob took it. "Yeah, so," Mark was saying. "Wulf Project was already there when we walked out with our bags, right? They didn't harm us at all. Like three of 'em cornered us and began asking questions about some Mobile Suit and whether or not we knew you. We denied it, and they would have left, but you called. Way to go Mutt." Mark paused and talked to someone nearby. "So when you called the first time, they tried to take the phone. The second time, they managed to grab it by the third ring. One of 'em signaled his buddy and he transmitted something to somewhere. Then the invasion began.

"So after that we were –"

"Wait," Rob cut him off. "They said something about a Mobile Suit?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"They said it was property of the Project, made specially for them by your dad. They wanted it back, and starting asking where you were since we knew nothing about it."

"Oh God."

"What?"

"We have the Suit right now."

"Like, you're in a real Mobile Suit right now?"

"Yeah."

"Who's piloting it?"

"I am."

"How'd you do that?"

"Uh, I learned in about five minutes.."

"What the..How'd that happen?"

Rob told him the story. How Don had found them in the mall, escaping with the Encounter, being trusted with the Repent, crash landing at the orphanage, and the flight to Africa.

Mark to him of their journey, which he thought was exciting until now. They were rushed off to a shelter during the attack. When they got word of the destruction, they were shipped out in pods. They landed at Victoria about two months ago. Ever since, they've lived in a small government provided apartment, trying all they could to find out if anyone else was still around. Rob and Rachel were the first two the finally got a hold of.

"If you've been trying for two months, why does it just work _now_?"

"Who knows? Hell, who cares? You're safe!" Mark talked off to the side again. "Hey, why don't we Rendezvous here? I mean, now that we know the other's okay and all.."

"We have to see this Waltfeld guy. Any clues?"

"Yeah. Some commander in Africa."

"Was his first name Andrew?"

"Uh, I don't know? Could have been."

"We've been keeping up with the War. Andrew Waltfeld, The Desert Tiger, was defeated yesterday, February 28, C.E. 71, by the Archangel and her crew. Looks like you're out of luck."

"Archangel?"

"Yeah. Some Earth Force. Seems like they got to him before you."

Rob mumbled. "Alright. Any idea on how to get to Victoria from the coast of Africa?"

"Which coast?"

"My guess is east."

"Uh..no. Give me two hours and I will, alright?"

"Yeah sure."

"Cool. In two then."

"Later." Rob hung up the phone with a sigh.

Rachel stood up with an anxious look. "What's the plan?"

"We wait two hours, the get directions to Victoria."

"What about that guy?"

"Mark says he was killed the day before we got here."

"Oh." Her face lost some light. "I hoped we'd be rid of this thing."

"Me too." Rob pocketed the phone. He dropped heavily into the pilots chair. "Two hours. Gives me time to sleep."

"Well if you're gonna sleep, can I have the phone? In case they call back and you're not awake."

"Sure." Rob fished around in his pocket for it. Rachel walked over as he pulled it out.

"Lay down and get some rest. You look exhausted." She took the phone from him. "Don't let the bed bugs bite." She said with a wink.

Rob was asleep before he knew it.

*****

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"No."

"Did you write it down?"

"Write it down on what?"

"Touché." Rob sighed.

"Why don't we ask for directions?"

"Because sand doesn't talk, and that's all I'm seeing."

"Sure you're going east?"

"Uh," Rob double checked. "Yup."

"Is there even life out here?"

"If sand can be counted as life."

They were on their way to Victoria Base. Hopefully it would be a friendly welcome. Mark said the place was under ZAFT control, so hopefully it'd be alright. The first thing Rob planned to do was sleep.

The Repent beeped. It was detecting something on the ground, finding it threatening. Rob stopped its flight. He hovered, trying to see what the Repent was seeing.

Repent beeped viciously. Something was coming from the left. Rob moved the Gundam backwards as a rocket flew past.

Rob swung the shield to the left as two more came, both hitting the shield. He dropped Repent to the desert below, landing behind a mound of sand. He took the time to see his opponent was a band of humans. Rob was glad he never fired.

He opened a communication link as projectiles flew into the mound. "Stop! We didn't come to fight!" To his surprise, the firing stopped. Behind him, Rachel sighed. "If you promise not to fire, I'll stand up." If they responded, Rob couldn't hear them. He stood the Repent up with its hands in the air, as if it had been caught by the police.

He took two steps forward towards the group. "Rach, I'm going to talk to them."

"What? They just fired at us for no reason!"

"But they're native. Maybe they know their way around." Rob reached under the seat and withdrew the pistol. He tucked it in between his pants and his stomach and put his shirt over it. "When I go down there, retract the rope and stay put, alright?"

"Be careful."

Rob let the rope bring him to the ground. He stumbled in the sand, trying to get his footing. He lifted his head and raised his arms. "I'm unarmed." A lie, Rob hoped they wouldn't search him. He was pleased when he heard the rope retracting behind him.

One of the dark skinned people, a hard, well-built man covered in scars with a rough beard, stepped forward. He had given his gun to someone else, showing Rob his trust. "If you answer our questions truthfully, you'll return alive."

Rob looked at the group behind the man. They had their guns aimed and kept the fingers on the trigger. "Fine." Rob didn't dare drop his hands.

"Who are you?"

"Rob Schneider."

"What army are you with?"

"Neither."

The man looked at him questioningly. "Neither?" Rob nodded. "And the Mobile Suit?"

"Yeah. That's a long story."

"We have time." The big man crossed his arms.

"We were civilians on a colony, which ended up being destroyed. We were picked up by a ZAFT vessel, given the suit, and told to deliver it to some 'Andrew Waltfeld.' We heard he was defeated, and are trying to get to Victoria for refuge."

"You said 'we'?"

"My girlfriend and I. She's still in the suit."

"Uh-huh." The man eyed Repent. "Victoria is ZAFT controlled."

"All the better. We were originally to deliver this thing to them anyway." Rob lowered his hands. "Look, I'm telling you the tr-"

"Keep your hands in the air!"

Someone fired a shot. The bullet brushed his pants leg, slightly scratching the calf. Rob flinched and put his hands back up. "Look, all we want is to get to Victoria and get out of this war. That's it!"

"Lies!"

"He's a spy! Don't let him go!"

"Shoot him!" The group roared. Guns clicked and were re-aimed. Rob took an involuntary step back.

"Hold your fire!" The bearded man growled.

"Kill him!" They roared again.

"Coordinator scum!"

"Good for nothing ZAFT soldier!"

"First you, then the world!" A bloodthirsty roar.

The man standing before Rob turned around with an annoyed look on his face. "I said hold your fire!" He growled as loud as he could. The crowd stopped. "Lower your guns." No one responded. "I said lower them!" The guns lowered. The man turned back to Rob. "You say there was someone else. Bring her down."

Rob turned and walked towards the Repent, making sure to leave his hands in the air. He stopped short of the open cockpit. "Rach, come down. Please?"

She climbed out obediently and rode down. "They wanted to see you." Rob said, nodding at the group. He walked back to the Man with Rachel in tow.

"What's your name?" The man asked her as she approached.

"Rachel."

"What are you doing with the pilot?"

"I'm his girlfriend."

"I see. Where are you going?"

"To the Victoria Base."

"To do what?" Rob's eyes narrowed. The man was testing her.

"Live normally and just get away from the war."

"The Base is ZAFT controlled. Are you with them?"

"We're not with anybody."

The man eyed them, then Repent, thinking. "Look, we're a resistance group. We just helped defeat the Tiger. Tiger's dead, which is why you're going to Victoria, correct?" Rob nodded. "Then I should let you know you're going the wrong way."

Rob sighed. "We don't have a map."

"Someone bring me a map!" The man called. "Listen, I'll let you go because I believe in what you said. You can't tell anyone about us. Especially ZAFT." The map was delivered. The man unrolled it and squat down in the sand where he flattened the map.

"Now look, this is Victoria." The man pointed to a city on the west coast of a country labeled Africa. "This is us." He moved his hand to rest in the center of Africa. "You want to head west until you hit the coast. Then follow it south.." He traced the path with his finger. "Like this, it shouldn't be that bad of a trip. There are villages, some hostile, along this path, so no promises."

He folded up the map. "I can't promise a warm welcome to Victoria either. Especially with a Suit." He held out the map. "In case you get lost again."

Rob lowered his hands. "Thank you. You don't know how helpful you were." He took the map.

"Had you really been a ZAFT soldier, we would have killed you." The man grinned. "Now go on."

Rachel started back to the Repent. "Thank you again, uhm..sorry, I never got your name." Rob said as he pocketed the map.

"My name's unimportant."

"Er, thank you again. I promise we won't mention you."

"Good lad. 'Cuz if you did.." The man shaped his hand into a pistol and pointed it at him with a smirk. Rob pretended to laugh.

He turned and walked to the Gundam, stiff legged. Rachel lowered the rope to let him up, staying towards the back of the cockpit. He went up without looking down at the group. Rob was still expecting to hear shots. He climbed in and shut the cockpit quickly.

Rachel was examining his pant leg as he sat down. "Are you just a big magnet for insane people with guns?" She played with the hole. Rachel gasped suddenly, pulling her hand back. "Blood." She wiped her hand on his knee, leaving a streak of red.

Rob bent over to look. The bullet had cut his calf. "It's just a graze. I'll live." He brought Repent to life. It warned them immediately of the group they'd just met. The group was leaving, now paying little attention to the two.

Rob gave Rachel the map. "We may need it."

Rachel opened it up. "Africa huh? What a horrible place."

"I know. Nothing but sand. Where do you think we crashed?"

"Uh.." She toyed with the map. "Germany maybe?"

Rob shrugged. He opened Repents wings. The Gundam cast the angel-like shadow in response. They took off, leaving behind a whirlwind of sand as an angel departed.

**8 – March 3, C.E. 71 (100 Pages Rep. 47)**

Rob was so tired. It was all he could think of now. He wanted to sleep the way Rachel was in the back. Sleep was all he wanted.

But he saw the ocean and city lights in the distance, so he kept himself going. He hoped to have a bed soon. Robs eyes kept growing heavier and heavier.

Repent beeped suddenly, scaring him. A transmission was coming in. "Unknown object; please state your model." _What? My model?_ "Unknown object; please state your model."

Rachel appeared behind him, rubbing her eyes. "Rob, are we there?"

"Uh..model?" Rob was flipping through screens.

"Unknown object, please state your model. Final warning."

"Shit.." He found it. "Uh, model number is ZGMF-X104 Repent."

"What are you requesting Repent?"

Rob turned to Rachel. "Do I say safe harbor?"

"I guess."

He transmitted back. "Safe harbor and repairs."

"With which army do you reside?"

"ZAFT."

"We will provide you with harbor. Please come to Hanger 3."

"Thank you." The operator cut off the transmission.

"We're with ZAFT now?"

"No, but Victoria is ZAFT controlled. If I said we were EAF, we'd be shot. If I said neither, they'd be suspicious."

"Right, because they're not suspicious already."

Repent arrived at the instructed area. The gates opened as Rob touched down. He walked Repent into the empty hanger.

"Finally!" Rob sighed and slouched back in the chair. "I thought this'd never happen."

Rachel put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's get out of here, get us a room, and find Mark and Erika."

"Ah, man." Rob opened the cockpit and powered down the Gundam. "All I want is a bed." He grabbed the rope and offered it to Rachel. She took it and went down slowly. Rob looked out at the hanger momentarily at the noise of a door opening and footsteps. He ignored them as the liftgrip came back up.

Rob rode down and hopped off. The rope withdrew and Repents cockpit closed. He noticed the footsteps had turned into the sound of running. He looked up as Rachel snuck behind him. A group of a good twenty men surrounded him. Rachel grabbed the back of his shirt and moved closer.

Rob looked around at a group of soldiers in red. They were too far away for Rob to take one of them. Even if he could, they'd probably shoot him.

The red coats in front of him parted to make way for a little man in white. He stood maybe five feet tall, his hat was tilted sideways, and his brown hair was a mess. He looked as though he had just wakened up.

"You're not wearing a uniform." He addressed Rob.

"Right."

"But you said you're with ZAFT."

"Yes."

"Explain." The short man cocked an eye at him.

_What the hell? All Earth wants is explanations at gun point. _"We came from the ZAFT vessel Encounter. We-"

"Encounter was lost." The short man interjected.

"I know..Look, you wanted an explanation."

The man waved his hand in a carry on motion. It irritated Rob.

"We were told to deliver that Suit to Andrew Waltfeld. We heard of his defeat, so we decided to bring it here instead."

"Is this the Suit the Wulf Project is after?"

"Yes."

"We don't want it." The man rolled his hand. Guns withdrew and their Red Coats began walking off.

"Wait! You have to take it!"

"No, we don't." The short man turned to leave.

"Hey!" Rob yelled at him. The man stopped. "You don't understand."

The little man sighed and walked back towards Rob. "No, you don't understand kid." He said. The man was imitating close up, but Rob still found it funny to be talking down to authority. "We don't want it. Get it out of here, it's taking up space."

"Well could you at least give us repairs?"

"No." The white coat turned to leave once more.

"Three weeks!" Rob grabbed the man's shoulder. "That's all I'm asking."

"Fine. Three weeks. We'll provide the repairs for three weeks. Then it's out of here, whether we have to do it ourselves or not."

"Thank you." Rob withdrew his hand. The short man walked off irritably.

"Well, that went well." Rachel said, standing beside him. She dug through his pocket. "Go see if you can rent a car. I'm going to call Erika." She snapped the phone out of his pocket.

"Uh," Rob pat his pockets. "No money?"

"Oh.." Rachel sighed. "Let's find a way outside."

*****

Rob watched as military personal came and went. The sun was shining brightly on him. It made him hot; he wished he was back in the Colonies.

"Sit," A small boy had come up to him. He was holding rolled up papers. "Would you like to but a paper?" His voice was shaky and the boy was looking at the ground. He looked ready to run at any moment.

Rob squat down to the boy's height. "I'm sorry mate, but I have no money."

"Please!" The kid's eyes got rounder and teared at the corners. "I need the money! It's for my..Please sir!"

"I'm sorry, really," Rob turned his pockets inside out. "I have no money."

The boy sighed. "Thank you anyway Sir." He dragged himself off to find a hopeful buyer.

Rob didn't like his first impression of Victoria. Now he was just disgusted. A kid selling newspapers on the street to support his mother? That was just sad.

"What are you looking at?"

He didn't notice Rachel arrive behind him. He had been busy thinking about the kid, and wondered how long she'd been standing there. "Uhm, nothing. Just zoning. Did you reach them?"

"Yeah. Erika said they weren't too far from the base. Ten minutes or so." Rachel handed him the phone. "Man, it's so hot here!" She slumped against the wall, wiping her forehead.

"I know." He pocketed the phone. "Makes you wish you were back on Cyrus huh?"

"Yeah." Rachel shielded her eyes. "What's up with that guy?"

"What guy?"

"Over there."

Rob looked in the direction she had pointed. Sitting on the bench across the street was a young, tall guy with short brown hair. He wore all black, including sunglasses. "Uh, sitting?"

"He's been like, watching us." Rachel tugged his pant leg. "Sit down. Make yourself comfy. You know how Erika drives."

Rob sat down with his arms across his knees. He put his head back against the wall. "I can't wait for a bed."

Rachel leaned against his shoulder. "I can't wait for a shower."

"Together?"

She slapped his arm playfully. "Not with them around?"

"Why not?"

"What happens when one of them walks in? Embarrassing much?"

Rob laughed. "There were little kids in that orphanage, and you're worried about another couple?"

"Yeah!"

"Rach, you're weird."

Rachel sighed. "You know, I still can't believe all this happened in three months."

"I guess that's what you get with war. It changes lives so quickly."

"What are we going to do with the Repent?"

"I have no idea."

"We have to think of something."

"We could just let them dispose of it. The thing would finally be off our hands."

"Yeah, but," Rachel shifted to look at him. "I feel like it's a part of us now, you know? It would feel wrong."

"I wonder why they didn't take it."

Rachel opened her mouth to reply as a black car shot around the corner, tires screeching. It came to a halt in front of them.

The car was a nice convertible sports car. In the drivers seat sat Mark, and Erika sat in the passenger's seat next to him.

Mark turned off the car and the two stepped out. "Mutt!"

Rob and Rachel stood up. "Hey. Long time no see." They banged fists. Rachel and Erika exchanged hugs. "Nice ride you have there. Stolen?"

"Give me some credit! I am offering you hospitality, you know." Mark pat the roof of the vehicle. "Actually, I have a well paying job with ZAFT. We're living with this and a luxury apartment. Life is good."

"Oh, nice. Man, why am I so behind? Oh that's right; I was shot and thrown into a war."

"You were what?" Mark and Erika said in a surprised unison.

"You told us you two were in the middle of the war, but nothing about getting shot!"

"We'll tell you later." Rachel said. "Right after a nice, hot bath."

"And some sleep." Rob added.

"Yeah, dude," Mark put a hand on his shoulder. "You look horrible, kid."

"With good reason."

"Well then, let's get going." Erika said, walking around to the passenger's side of the car. "Don't want to keep our guests waiting."

"Yeah, yeah." Mark opened the driver's door. "You wanna drive?"

"Uh, no. I've had enough of that."

"Suit yourself. You two have to tell us everything that's happened, you know."

"Yeah, I know." As Rob opened the door for Rachel, his eye caught the figure on the bench across the street get up to leave.

*****

The four were sitting in the living room. Rob and Rachel had already been given the grand tour of the apartment. They served themselves water and prepared to share their journey.

"So, explain to us everything that happened."

"Well.." Rob and Rachel looked at each other. "We tried to call you that day at the mall, as you know. The terrorist picked up the phone. As soon as he said 'for a blue and pure world', I knew what was happening. The radio had warned about a terrorist threat."

"Rob and I tried to run. The building came down on top of us as we ran. Our escape was stopped by the leader of the Wulf Project."

"Don Wulf."

"Right, Don Wulf."

"Wasn't he a friend of your families?" Mark asked. Rob nodded.

"Wulf asked Rob to join him. Rob refused and charged Don."

"He shot me."

"Where?"

Rob put his hand over the area of his chest the bullet hit. "Right side. As I lay on the ground, he whispered to me that he hoped I lived so he could hunt me down."

"So you two are like, wanted persons now?"

"Sure, I guess." Rob sipped his drink.

"I hope we're not." Rachel made a worried face and shot a look at Rob. "Anyway, I managed to hoist Rob over my shoulder. Don's mobile suit had cleared the building; I was kind of dragging him over my shoulder, crying for help. I dropped him and cried; I knew I couldn't carry him all the way to a hospital. I thought he'd die.

"Someone tapped my shoulder. She was with two other men. They offered help. The two men picked up Rob and we ran to where they had parked a rental van. Rob was buckled into the back seat. The two men removed his shirt and used it to add pressure on the wound. The women, who we later knew as Lauren Anders, drove through the chaos of the streets to an underground base not five minutes away.

"Rob was taken immediately into a battleships hospital. As I boarded, Lauren explained to me who she was. She was the captain of a ZAFT battle cruiser, The Encounter. Their mission was to track the Wulf Project. The captain offered their hospitality at a cost."

"Which was?"

"We joined ZAFT. I'd be on the deck, and Rob would be a pilot."

"I awoke about two days later. I told Lauren about the Wulf's plans to destroy Cyrus 8. We left the next day."

"We flew towards the moon so the Encounter could assist ZAFT in some fighting. Wulf Project found us first, and we were ambushed." Rachel continued.

Rob picked up. "The crew forced us into a mobile suit, and I had to learn how to pilot the thing in about five minutes. We were told to take it down to Earth and give it to some Andrew Waltfeld. As we tried to escape, we encountered three enemy suits. I had to kill them…they wouldn't let us go." He said with a hint of regret.

"We finally reached Earth. That's when things when bad."

"Oh really?" Mark asked. "Things just then started to get bad?"

"I had no idea how to enter. The Repent got-"

"The Repent?"

"Our suit." Rachel and Rob said at the same time.

"Ah." Mark slung one leg up over the other.

"I had no idea how to enter. Repent got hot, the ride got violently bumpy. I lost control of the Gundam. We crashed somewhere north of here."

"We were found by an orphanage close by the crashing site. They took us in and gave Rob stitches and a cast for my broken arm."

"We stayed for about two months. When we left, a girl gave me this." Rob took out the black and silver cross from inside his shirt. "She said 'Every angel needs a cross, even if God's angel isn't pure'" The other couple looked confused. "You'll get it once you see the Repent. It has wings like an angel and it's the exact same color as the cross."

"It took us about a day or two to get down here. Rob piloted the whole time. He's slept maybe five hours in the past few days."

"We came to Africa and ran into some resistance group who wanted to shoot me. They ended up giving me _real_ directions to Victoria." Rob glared across the table at Mark.

"Now hey! You know I could never give directions."

"True." Rob drank some water. "When we got here we were once again held at gun point. We had to beg for safe harbor. They gave us three weeks."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"What if you're not gone in three weeks?"

"Then they get rid of the Suit by their own means."

"Why don't they want it? Isn't it originally ZAFT's?"

"Yeah. The guy said he didn't want it after he heard Don's looking for it."

"What are you going to do after three weeks?" Erika asked.

"Don't know. Maybe go back to that orphanage."

"You're welcome to stay here."

"What about Repent?"

"Well…" Mark sighed. "Man, I don't know. This world's crazy."

"I don't mean to be rude, but," Rachel stood up. "Would you mind if we got some sleep?"

"Oh, sure." Erika stood up herself. "You two definitely look like you need it. You can use our beds tonight while we clean up the guest room. Sound good Mark?"

"Yeah, fine." Mark stood. Rob followed.

"Great. Follow me."

Erika led them down the narrow hallway to the larger bedroom. Inside were two separate beds and a bathroom. "You don't mind if they're separate, do you?"

"No, that's fine." Rachel stepped in. "This is very nice Erika."

"Thank you. It really was all Mark's money." She pushed Rob in gently. "You two can sleep as long as you need. I'm sure it's been a long two months." Erika closed the door.

Rob walked towards the right bed. "See Rach? They're two separate beds. I guess we'll have to use the couch."

"Shut up!" Rachel sat down on the other bed. "I wonder why they're separate."

"Number of reasons."

"I'm sure." She undressed quickly, leaving on her bra and underwear, and went under the covers. "So nice to finally have a bed."

"Yeah. Have a good sleep."

"Don't let the bedbugs bite." She rolled over towards the wall.

Rob didn't feel tired. He didn't bother to move the covers. He tossed his shirt in the corner and flopped on the bed. Rob was asleep before he knew it.

*****

Rob woke up slowly. He was lying towards the right side of the bed. As he pushed himself up, his arm missed the edge. He fell over the side and landed in between the wall and the bed.

"Son of a…" He cursed under his breath as he sat up. He yawned and used the wall to stand up. Rachel's bed was empty, dressed neatly, and the door was shut.

Rob staggered tiredly to the door, opening it rather slowly. He debated on whether or not he wanted to go back to sleep, then decided not to.

He walked the hallway to the kitchen. The lights were on and the window was open. Rob guessed it was early morning.

"Hey sleepyhead." The voice came from the couch where the TV was blaring. Mark waved. "Fall out of bed did we?"

"Shut up…" Rob mumbled. He dropped into the couch opposite of Mark. "Where's the girls?"

"They went out shopping."

"Oh. What time is it?"

"Last I checked it was almost noon." Mark looked at Rob. "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit." Rob stretched and yawned.

"Damn. What did they shoot you with?"

Rob looked confused, and then noticed Mark was addressing his chest. "A pistol of some sort. Mind you I've been operated on like fifteen million times." Rob lay down the length of the couch. His legs hung over the arm.

"Back to sleep already?"

"I got nothing else to do."

"You could clean."

"Yeah right."

The doorknob turned and the door creaked open. Erika and Rachel came through carrying three bags each.

"Man, how much stuff did you buy?" Mark got up to help them.

"Uhm, a lot." Erika set her bags down on the kitchen table. "TV's kind of loud, isn't it?"

"What? I can't hear you!" Rob yelled from the couch.

"Oh hi!" Rachel walked over, set her bags down at his feet, and sat on his lap. "You look like you just woke up. And you're already going back to sleep?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Lazy ass." Rachel gave him a kiss and lay on top of him.

"There's another couch you know."

"Yeah, but Mark and Erika can use that." As if on cue, the two walked over and sat down on the couch.

"You could have sat over here Rach." Erika said as she opened the foot lounge.

"Yeah, but he's nice and warm and comfy…And shirtless." She grinned.

"So what's the plan?"

"What time is it again?"  
"1:17." Erika answered.

"I wanna shower, and then head back to that hanger and make sure they're not screwing up my machine."

"Mind if I come?"

"I was going to make you come anyway Mark. You're my ride."

"I said you could drive."

"I don't wanna drive yet." His arms went around Rachel. "What're you two going to do?"

"Uh…" She looked over at Erika. "Anything?"

"We could go back out if you want. Or just hang around the house, which works too."

"Is it a good idea to let the guys go out by themselves?"

"I don't know. Hopefully they can behave."

"Will you be a good doggie?" Rachel asked, petting his chest.

"Only if I get a treat afterwards." They gave each other a small kiss. "Would you happen to have a pair of jeans and shirt I could wear Mark?" Rob shifted to look at him.

"Yeah, probably."

"Hey." Rachel sat up slowly. "I got you clothes. Are you two even the same size?"

"Well, I definitely don't have a six pack." Mark admitted. They laughed.

"Getting yourself a keg now Mark?"

"More for me." He shrugged.

"Here, try these." Rachel was digging through the bags, tossing clothes on him. "I think I got the right sizes.

Rob sat up and grabbed the clothes. There were two jeans and three shirts and some boxers. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm gonna steal your shower."

"Nah, go ahead. Take your time."

Rob walked back to their room, noting that even though Mark and Erika sat next to each other, they were different.

*****

Rob was finding the shower very soothing. He hadn't realized how tense he had been. Even though he was done washing his body and hair, he wanted to stay in a while longer.

He leaned against the back wall, letting the water hit his chest. His eyes drifted down to the scar on his right side. Memories flew by him.

Rob remembered how Don had always seemed like a good guy. He found himself wondering why Don had bothered to find him on Cyrus. Did he know about the Repent? Is that why Victoria didn't want it?

Did Don get into an argument with his father, and is that why his dad was killed?

Rob grit his teeth. He knew his fathers company had been involved in military affairs; he'd seen it in action on day as a little kid. Just what about the Repent made it so special? Was it something his father had designed separately? After all, it's the pilot that makes the difference, right?

Rob found himself missing his old life. Civilian life, he humored himself. Now he was stuck in some stupid war with a weapon he didn't know how to use while being hunted by a family friend. Not what he had planned to do when he got older.

He wondered what they were going to do when their three weeks time was up. Rob wanted to get out of this war just a much as Rachel, but what would they do with the suit? He couldn't just leave Repent in the middle of the desert. It deserved more than that.

Cursing his father, he reached over and turned off the water. Rob decided he'd figure it all out step by step.

**9 – March 4, C.E. 71**

"Man, I hate people who can't drive." Mark laid down on his horn again. The driver in front of them, an elderly lady, waved at them like they had been saying hello. "I hate old people."

"What else do you hate Mark?"

"I hate everything." Rob laughed.

"So, uhm, Mark." He shifted around in his seat. "Rach thinks you and Erika don't seem to be very connected."

"She'd be right."

"Did you two break up?"

"Kinda."

"Why?" Mark was quiet, focusing on the road.

They came to a red light and stopped; Mark drummed the wheel. "Let's just say…we're not the same. Well, I'm not the same. Not like you used to know me."

"Oh?" Rob shifted uncomfortably again. The first thing that came to mind was that Mark was confessing he was gay, but Rob didn't want to accept that. "How so?"

"I'm just…not. Let's leave it at there."

"Sure man." Rob dropped the subject.

The rest of the ride was silent.

*****

"Hi. I'm Rob Schneider. I'm here to check up on a mobile suit." The military man looked confused. "We were wondering if you could point us towards the main hanger." Rob made sure his validation pass was clearly visible on his shirt.

The military man pointed to the right, where a door labeled HANGER sat.

Rob tried not to show that he felt like an idiot. "Thanks." The man walked off hurriedly.

"Well, he was polite."

"You knew it was there, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Mark admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't notice until you stopped him."

"You're a huge help." Mark grinned.

Rob walked to the door. It hissed open without asking for identification. _And this is supposed to be a military base?_

"Man, there wasn't even a decorated hallway to walk through." Mark complained as the two entered immediately into the hanger.

As they made their way to the end of the hanger, Section 3c, people hustled back and fourth. Some were dressed in decorated military uniforms. Rob looked around for his machine. He found the Repent standing on the far end of the hanger, untouched.

"You know what," Rob walked off towards the suit. "I hate the military."

"Where 'ya going?"

"My machine."

"Which one?"

"The one being ignored." They walked the length to the Repent, standing idly in the corner of the hanger. No one so much as nodded at them on their walk.

"Wow."

"Huh? Something wrong?" Rob turned around to look at his friend. Mark was stopped in front of it, a few feet back.

"Dude, this thing is freaking awesome!"

"Yeah, well," Rob shrugged and climbed onto the escalator set in front of the Gundam. "It'd be nicer if they had repaired it. They haven't even started!" He looked at Mark. "You coming?"

"Up there? Hell yeah!" He climbed on. Rob brought them up and opened up the cockpit. "Wow."

"It's not really that impressive."

"Yeah, sure it's not." Mark said as sarcastically as possible.

"Hey!" A voice from down below them shouted as soon as they were about to enter. "What're you doing?"

Rob paused, a hand on the open cockpit, to turn and look down at the round man with a long mustache below yelling at them. "This is my suit."

"Well, yer gonna have to leave."

"What? Why?"

"Repairs are goin' underway."

"For when?"

"Now son! Get down here!" The man said irritably.

"Alright. We're coming."

When the two reached to floor once more, the man shook his fist at them. "What the hell you think yer doin'? Weren't you informed of when the repairs would be takin' place?"

"No sir."

The man was irritated. "Fine, whatever. Ya'all just can't be up there while we workin'."

"Sure, no problem. Take care of her." Rob smirked and walked away with Mark in tow.

"So," Mark said, appearing next to Rob. "What now?"

*****

Mark returned to the table with two vanilla ice cream cones in his hands.

"Vanilla? I said chocolate."

"They were all out of chocolate Mutt."

"Awh, come on." Rob whined, but took the cone anyway.

Mark took his seat. "That thing really is amazing."

"Are you still thinking about it? It really isn't. Especially if you were stuck with it for the past two months."

"Yes it is! It looks like a rejected angel."

"Rejected angel? Gee, thanks." Mark laughed. Rob took a bite of the ice cream cone. "So, why is it so hot here?"

"It's Africa."

Rob licked the side of the ice cream that had been melting too fast. "Wow, way to explain it to me."

"It's on the equator, which is the hottest part on Earth. Didn't you pay attention in school?"

"Oh please." Rob paused to take another bite. "You know all I did in class was doodle and sleep."

"Yeah, and never studied."

"And always passed."

Mark shook his head. "I never understood that."

"I'm that type of person. Hear it once, remember it for whenever I need it."

"I hate you."

"No you don't." Rob finished his cone. "Ha! I win!"

"Wait, since when was this a race?" Rob shrugged.

The extra chair at the round table the two were sitting at slid out. A guy about their age sat in it and leaned on the table.

Mark and Rob exchanged confused looks. "I'm sorry, can we help you?"

Mark asked the question, but the man stared at Rob. "You lack hatred, Rob Schneider."

_Well that isn't creepy._ "What do you want?"

"I am Sonny. My last name is unimportant to you. I'm a captain."

"No."

"You haven't listened to what I have to say yet, Schneider."

"I don't care what you want anymore."

Rob was about to stand up and walk away for emphasis when he saw two men at the table behind Mark stand up. They walked over casually and stood behind his friend. Rob felt the presence of people behind him as well, and Mark gave it away by widening his eyes. "That's too bad."

"Well, since you've asked us so politely to stay…" Mark said uneasily.

"You need to get out of Victoria in three weeks, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Want a way out?" Rob and Mark looked at each other questioningly. "As I said, I'm a captain. The ships name is Exodus. It is of the Archangel class, stolen from ZAFT."

"That means nothing to me Sonny."

Sonny leaned back in his seat. "Wulf Project knows where you are. They will always know. You may not have those three weeks. Why not join forces with someone they're afraid of?"

"How would they know?"

"They have their ways, Schneider." Sonny grinned. The large scar, which ran down his cheek to his neck, bothered Rob. "They are after nothing now but that machine, the Repent. They make it their duty to know."

Rob cringed. "And you're offering us what?"

"We're currently tracking the Project."

"I want no part in it."

"Why? Why not just end it all? You can't keep running forever. The Wulf's will find a way to catch up. You know this is true, so why not just join us? What do you have to lose?"

"Try his life." Mark mumbled.

Rob looked over at Mark. "I'll think about it."

"March eighth. We're leaving, and I promise you, you'll be coming."

"We'll see." Rob said firmly.

Sonny gave them a respectful nod before motioning to his henchmen. He stood up, and his group left the ice cream shop.

Mark relaxed. "Dude. What the hell?"

Rob could only shake his head.

*****

"He gave us four days."

The four of them were sitting around the kitchen table. While Mark and Rob retold their encounter with Sonny, Erika remained quiet but Rachel wasn't very happy. The conversation continued on, mostly between Rachel and Rob.

"He wants us to leave with him in four days?" Rob nodded. "We don't even know if we can trust that man! Who does he think he is?"

"Well we don't really have a choice Rach. You know we can't stay here."

"They gave us three weeks Robbie. That's twenty-one days!"

"You know he's right. Don will come for me eventually. You know he will."

"Well what if he doesn't? What if he gets stuck in space and decides to forget about us because he has bigger fish to fry?"

"Rach, for whatever reason the Repent is so special, Don isn't going to let it go now."

"You guys can't stay here, he'll find you. I think the best chance to escape is with Sonny." Erika pitched in.

Rachel's face got bright red and her hands balled into fists. "You aren't helping, Erika." Rob gave her a smile.

"Sorry, I tried. I'm just so lost right now."

"Same for me." Mark seconded.

"Well then stay the hell out of it!" Rachel yelled at the two. Everyone at the table flinched at her sudden outburst. "If you don't have any suggestions then just shut up!"

"Rachel," Rob touched her hand. "Erika was giving a suggestion."

"What? To run, like we have been doing for the past two months?" She shook his hand off. "I'm tired of running Rob."

"What are you saying? You know we can't fight back. What do you want me to-"

"What do I want?" She stood up quickly. "I want out. That's what I want Rob! I don't want to go anywhere near space again! I just want it all to stop!" Rachel banged her fist on the table and left the room. A moment later, they heard a door slam shut.

Rob sighed. "I'm sorry Erika." He said apologetically.

"It's alright. She's right; I don't know anything of the matter. But I do know that this man was right. If Don Wulf really wants that Gundam so bad, he'll come for it eventually."

"Yeah…" Rob stood up and ran his hand through his hair. "I should go talk to her." He walked after her reluctantly.

*****

The door was locked. With a sigh, Rob knocked twice. "Rachel?"

"Go away." The muffled voice came.

"Rach, let me in."

There was silence for a minute. As Rob decided to try again or not, the lock clicked and Rachel opened the door. She went for the bed, so Rob closed and locked the door.

He slowly walked over and sat next to her. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly. She only nodded. "What's bothering you?"

She was quiet. Rob decided he would wait for the answer and not pressure her.

"I'm scared." She finally answered him in a quiet voice.

"You're scared?" She nodded. Rob ventured and put and arm around her shoulders. "Why are you afraid?"

"I don't," She took a deep breath. "I don't want to die."

"You know we can't stay here Rach."

"I know. I know don is going to find us." She leaned into him. "I'm afraid for myself. For you, for Mark and Erika. It was the greatest thing in the world to find them still alive Rob." He nodded. "I don't want anyone else to die."

"Neither do I, Rachel. But there is a war going on, and we were thrown into it. We're going to have to deal with these situations for the rest of our lives."

She was quiet. Rob sighed and stood u. He kneeled down in front of her and took her hands. "Rachel, you can stay here if you want. If it makes you happy, please stay. But I'm going with the Exodus. I've already made up my mind."

She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "You know I can't stay here while you go after Don, Rob." Rachel stood up. She paced back and fourth for a few minutes, shaking her hair out of her eyes and sighing from time to time. "If we do stay, don is going to come to us."

"True." Rob stood and leaned against the dresser.

"But it may put Mark and Erika in danger if we stay here."

"Yeah."

"And if you go, don follows you, but we won't know whether or not you're okay."

"Right."

Rachel stopped and looked at him for a minute. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Rob nodded. "I've already made my decision."

Rachel frowned and looked at the floor. "Well, then, have to come with you." She said quietly.

Rob walked over to her and lifted her head. "You know, I'm just as afraid as you are." He hugged her.

She hugged him back harder. "Do you think Mark and Erika will come with us?"

"We'll have to ask." They released each other.

"I needed that." Rachel admitted, blushing slightly. She looked at her feet, then grabbed Rob's arm, looking at the time. "I want a shower. Come get me if there's dinner?" She offered it as a question, but walked towards the bathroom.

Rob walked to the door. "Rach." He called, pausing for a minute.

She turned. "Hm?"

"Remind me to get you a watch." He winked as he left the room.

*****

Rob yawned. The screen was making him tired. He wished he had gotten more sleep than action last night. He cursed the Repent and wished one of the techs wandering around doing nothing would work on the OS instead.

"Little tired?" Rachel asked. She sat in the open cockpit with her legs hanging over the side.

"Yeah, and I blame you." He pushed the keyboard away, folding his hands behind his head.

"Hey Robbie?" Rachel climbed in. "There's a guy in a uniform standing at Repents foot?"

"I hate people." Rob grumbled. He climbed out onto the lift and made his way over to the man once he reached the floor.

The man was wearing a technician's suit and didn't seem to notice him approach. "Can I help you, sir?" Rob asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

The man continued to eye his suit.

"Sir?" Rob asked again. The man snapped out of his trance and turned to him, bringing up a clipboard.

"Uh, yeah. ZMGF-X21A Repent right?"

"Yeah."

The man turned back to face the Gundam. I was told to ask if you needed anything. Weapons and ammunition, specifically."

Rob noticed something on the mans jacket arm. It was a grey and black patch with a paw print in the middle of it.

"Uh, no thanks." Rob tried not to sound as uneasy as he suddenly felt. He pretended to figure out what the man was looking at. "We have someone working on it."

"Oh." The man sounded disappointed. He sighed, gave rob a salute, and left without an incident.

Rob hurried back inside the Repent, making sure he didn't look back at the Wulf. Rachel greeted him. "What'd he want?"

"To see if I needed anything."

"Oh. That made you uneasy?"

Rob wondered how girls knew things so easily, and then noticed his hands were back in his pockets and he was slouching. "Oh, uh no." He straightened. "I think he was a Wulf."

"What makes you say that?"

He took his seat. "He had a pawprint patch on his arm."

"Oh." Rachel sighed. "Great." Rob brought the keyboard back out. "We're staying?"

"Wouldn't it be suspicious if I left right after meeting a Wulf?"

"I suppose."

"we'll leave in an hour. Besides, I doubt they can make an incident without interrupting the ZAFT operatives here."

"Oh, okay. Wish we had music or something."

"You can listen to the elevator music playing outside."

"Like I can hear it over all the clanging and shouting and everything else going on."

Rob shrugged. "I can."

Rachel lay down across the doorway. "Yeah, well, you're weird."

"I love you too Rach."

The hour passed slowly. As Rob perfected the OS, he heard Rachel snoring. _Looks like I wasn't the only tired one here._ He said, grinning.

*****

Rob parked the car in the garage across the street. Together, he and Rachel locked up, checked the car in, crossed the street and boarded the apartment elevator.

Rachel was ranting about the fact that no one ever uses sidewalks.

"I mean, come on! Why else are they paying taxes? And in a city like Victoria! Honestly, have you seen how busy the streets are?" The elevator stopped with a ding and the doors opened for them. "They could get hit, you know that right? Man, are people stupid!"

They stopped at the room. Rob flipped his keys around and found the right one for the door. "You know, they say people don't like uneven sidewalks." He set his and on the knob, trying it.

Rob didn't have to unlock the door. "Well, they're idiots. I'll laugh when they get hit." Rachel continued.

Rob stepped inside. "Hey guys, we're home!" No one responded. He noticed it was quiet; no one was talking and the TV was off, but all the lights had been left on. "Mark? Erika?"

Rachel walked by him. "Maybe they ran out. Hey! We're back!" She yelled, going into the living room.

"Do you leave the house lights on in the middle of the day to go for a walk? No." Rob tossed his keys on the kitchen table, listening for water, but heard none. "Plus, the door was unlocked and they would have told us."

"Jeeze, Mr. Detective." She stood facing him in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. "Anyone home?" She called out again.

Rob went by her and walked down the hallway, to the bedrooms. The room they were sharing was left as it was this morning. E made his way past the room to Mark and Erika's room. The door was closed.

Rob tapped on the door. "Hello?"

No one answered.

He opened the door.

He wished he hadn't. What was behind the door was gruesome.

But on the plus side, he had found his friends.

"Oh god." He whispered as he stepped through the door. The bedroom lights were all on. The bodies of Mark and Erika lay sprawled on the floor, shot dead. The walls and carpets were soaked with blood. A knife was stuck into the wall behind Mark's body, the farthest from the door, which held a tan envelope in place.

Rachel ran into him, not paying attention. He was still standing in the doorway, hand still on the knob of the open door, staring at the gore. "Rob, what're you doing?" She squeezed past him, only to run into the scene he'd been staring at.

She froze for a minute, and then gagged as though she'd throw up. Rachel covered her mouth and dropped to her knees, eyes closed, crying.

Rob was still not done taking it in himself. His eyes kept drifting from the wall to the bodies.

He forced himself to take his eyes off his friends and bent down to Rachel, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Rachel, go to the living room. Call the cops." He said as firmly as he could, but his voice was incredibly soft and shaky. He helped her stand and walked her to the hallway.

He looked at the scene again. He couldn't help wondering which of his friends had gone first, or if they had been tortured.

Rob tried no to throw up as he attempted to step around the bodies and pools of blood to get to the wall. The stench of the corpses and the blood was horrible. He too put his hand over his mouth and tried, failingly, not to cry.

He tried not to look at Marks lifeless eyes as he took the envelope from the wall.

It was sealed with a pawprint sticker. Rob immediately knew who had been here.

Don Wulf.

Rob grit his teeth at a sudden wave of rage as he opened the envelope. He unfolded the handwritten note inside. It read;

I assume you already know who this is,

Rob Schneider. I have to say I'm greatly

Amused you've lived this long. I should have

You know you were not the target of this attack.

Your two friends, however, were.

Did you ever read comic books when you were a kid, Rob?

I'm sure you did. Every ambitious

Little boy wanted to be able to fly or have

X-Ray vision to spy on that one girl,

Or shoot fire and "accidently" burn down the school.

Have you ever noticed that all of those

Superheroes had to make a sacrifice for their powers?

The sacrifice has been made, Rob Schneider.

Now show me the power of Repent.

The letter was signed with a bloody paw print.

As tears streamed down his face and rage filled his body, Rob forced himself from destroying it. It'd be evidence in his friends' case. Instead, he walked out of the room with his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

Rob closed the door, put his head against the wall, and cried.

*****

The police thanked him and shooed him away. Rob got permission to pack all of his and Rachel's belongings in a car and rent a hotel room. He took Mark's car. The police offered to pay for the room. Rachel and Rob carried their things upstairs, and Rob unpacked it all.

Rachel sat on the bed and cried.

When he was done, he sat next to her. Rob soothed her, pulling her in close and holding her tight. He told her it'd be alright. Rachel gripped onto him tightly and only cried harder. He went silent, letting her cry as he tried to think of what would be the best way out.

*****

"So?"

The tech scratched his head. "I don't know."

"Come on. You really don't know what it'd mean to us."

"Well…" The man sighed. "This thing isn't a car, you know."

"I know. At least give me one can of paint? I'll do it myself."

"Fine, but you're here for repairs, not a paint job."

"It's not a paint job, it's more like a little logo."

The tech shook his head and went to get paint while Rob made the final changes on his idea.

*****

"Hi." The receptionist raised her eyebrows at Rob and paid more attention to the computer. Rob drummed on the counter a little. "Uhm, I'm looking for a ship by the name of The Exodus."

The receptionist shook her hair out of her eyes and typed quickly. "Hangar 4A." She waved him off.

"Thank you." Rob turned to leave, then remembered something and turned back. "Which way to Hangar 4A?" The woman gave him an annoyed look; Rob grinned.

*****

When Rob finally arrived, Exodus was being worked on. It looked like the ship he and Rachel had seen in the desert. It had the same letter H shape, but it was gold and black instead of white. He spotted Sonny standing off to the side, signing for something.

As Rob approached, Sonny noticed him. "Knew you would come." The man nodded the mechanic with the clipboard and he left with a tip of his hat. "What brings you?"

"What is this thing?"

"I already told you. My ship. Exodus."

"But we saw another one out in the desert."

"Probably the Archangel. Exodus was modeled after it." Sonny began to walk off.

Rob ran after him. "Uhm, so…" He put his hands in his pockets. "We're going to come with you to space."

"What made you change your mind?" The two walked into an elevator. Sonny pushed a button and they began descending.

"Don played us a visit…and uhm, two of my friends died."

"Seems a little extreme." The elevator dinged and the two exchanged places with three uniformed men.

"Yeah, but it's true." Rob sighed. "He only did it to enrage me. When I thought about it, he could have killed me just as easy." Rob noted they had entered another hangar. "He let me go, again, just to torture me."

"Mental warfare. The man seems to know how to really play with your mind, eh?" They stopped. "Don's truly going through a lot of trouble to get this thing." When Rob looked up, he was standing next to Repent again. "This Gundam must be something."

"I hate this war. You have no idea how badly I want out."

"And for that all you have to do is destroy an entire terrorist group. Sonny pat him on the back and made his way towards the Repent. "Never got to get a good look at this thing." The man circled Repent like a vulture, inspecting it. "They did a good job with the repairs."

"I suppose"

"That your addition?" Sonny nodded to the Gundam's left shoulder.

"Yeah. A memoir of my friends."

"A rose and a pistol, huh? What's the story behind them?"

Rob stopped towards his machine. "The pistol is for Mark. He and I always wanted to join the war. Little ironic, right? The rose is for Erika; she was a sweet girl. Pacifist; always rejected the war."

"I see." Sonny was silent for a moment. He folded his arms. "Give me directions to wherever you're staying; We'll leave tomorrow."

*****

Rob parked the car outside. He leaned over to pop the trunk and got out. As he opened the back, Rachel appeared at his side.

"Hard to believe we have all this in three days." She said quietly.

'All this' was five duffel bags full of clothes; two his and three Rachel's. "Sucks to start over again, huh?"

"Yeah…"She sighed deeply. Rachel unloaded two of her bags, and tried to pull the other one out, but was having trouble lifting it.

"I can get it." He told her. She smiled at him and stepped back. He put both of his bags in his right hand and set her extra one on the ground while he closed the trunk. Rob jingled the car keys in his hand. "What do we do with it?"

She shrugged. "Leave them in the car, I guess. We're not coming back here. Even if we do come back, are we going to need it?" Rob looked up as a ship was launched off Victoria's Mass Driver. He decided it'd be easier just to leave the keys. "Shame." He took the bags around to the drivers door, opened it, tossed the keys in the front seat, and closed the door again. "Was fun driving ya." He told the car.

Rob picked up the bags again. Rachel smiled at him again and started towards the door. He followed her, hoping that Sonny was going to keep his word.

They walked to the entrance of the base and set their bags down to wait. Soldiers passed them by usually without a glance, but a few gave them odd looks. Rachel moved closer next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm tired." She claimed silently.

Rob put his arm around her. "Soon as we get settled, you should sleep."

"What'll you be doing?"

"No idea."

At that point, a shuttle car stopped in front of them. "My, aren't you two cute." Sonny said looking down at them. "Come on, pack 'em up." He jabbed his thumb behind him where the open car housed two more seats and some empty space.

Rob took four of the five bags in his hands and got up. Rachel set hers down and climbed into one of the back seats. Rob tossed the rest of the bags in and took the passengers seat. "Took you long enough." He joked with the man.

"Sorry, idiot's couldn't figure out how to move your Gundam. Surprised they're enlisted in the military." He put the car in drive. "We're leaving in two hours. Wulf's are going to be right on our tail the entire time after we hit space."

"They know about what we're doing?"

"Of course." The car fell silent. After a short drive, they rounded a corner where the Exodus was docked outside; final repairs were being made on it.

"That looks just like the one we saw in the desert." Rachel noted.

"So I've heard. There's another one of these called The Archangel. There are some differences between the two, for example, mine is black and gold while the Archangel is red and white. And," Sonny grinned. "I'm better." He parked next to the Exodus, and Rob got out and went for their bags. "Oh no, leave them." Sonny said as he helped Rachel out of the car. "I'll get someone else to get them."

"Oh, okay." Rob stepped back. Rachel came up and hooked her arm in his. "So, where to Captain?"

"The hangar first. I want you to make sure the Repent looks good, and you'll meet you're partners in crime." The Captain walked off. With a shrug from Rachel, the two followed.

*****

"In here we can house ten suits. We currently have five, yours included." Sonny hesitated. "Oh, no, wait, we have four."

"Oh really."

"Our mechanics are state of the art and know what happens when they don't do their jobs."

"Great."

The hangar was huge. Aside from the Repent, there were three other suits. One was orange and grey with a bulky build. The next was red with streaks of white. The final suit was the same color as the Exodus; black and gold.

Sonny noticed Rob examining the Gundams. "This first one is the Challenger." He said, pointing to the blue and orange one. "It specializes in close combat, housing so many sabers it's ridiculous. The red suit is named the Crimson, respectively. It's much like your Repent, without the wings. The black and gold suit is mine, called the Termuns. It specializes in gun fighting." He grinned. "They can be a pretty nice combination, eh?" The captain began walking. "We had another Gundam, the Hardcoat. It was lost, unfortunately. All of these are Prototypes, just like your own Gundam."

Rachel sped up to walk next to Rob. She took his arm once again, but said nothing. "Do we get to meet the pilots?"

"That's where we're off to now. The locker room; they're waiting." The group walked not much farther to enter a large room filled with lockers, showers, a LCD screen, and four couches. On them sat two kids, about the same age as the couple.

One of them stood up as soon as they entered. Like himself, the guy had long blonde hair. Had he been a little less skinny, more muscular, and if his hair wasn't so straight, they could have been twins. "Hi." The guy extended his hand. "Jake Grite, Crimson's pilot. Nice looking suit you have there."

Rachel let him go and took a step back, silently allowing Rob to meet his teammates. Rob made a note to talk with her later. "Rob Schneider. Please to meet you Jake." They shook hands.

Jake's companion stood up. He was tall, tanned guy with short black hair. He introduced himself as Michael, Challenger's pilot.

"And this is Rachel." Sonny led her forward. "Rob's girlfriend."

The new men said hi. Rachel said hi back, shyly. "You know, I have a sister our age. She's here somewhere, you'll have to meet her." Jake told her.

As Rachel prepared to say something, the LCD screen blinked on with a blue flash. "Sir!" Said the man on the screen with a salute. "Something urgent has come up."

Sonny stepped towards the screen. "What is it?"

"Don Wulf, sir! He's contacted the ship, and requests to speak with you."

"Put him on." Sonny said, waving a hand at the screen.

Don Wulf appeared for the second time before them. Rob was extremely pleased he couldn't be shot this time. "Commander Holland, long time no see." Don said cheerfully.

"It's Captain now, filth."

Don laughed. "Yes, yes, of course. I see you have met my friends." He said, nodding towards Rob and Rachel. The two froze, and Jake and Michael looked from them to the screen, confused.

"Yes. You seem to be making life very miserable for them."

Don laughed once more. "You're making life miserable for me as well, Sonny boy. Which one's the real terrorist here?"

"Do I really have to answer that?" Sonny asked annoyed.

Don ignored the question. "Right now, this is the closest I can get to you, Schneider." Don talked as though he had disregarded everyone else in the room. His eyes fixed on Rob. "However, once this vessel leaves Victoria, you're fair game. So let's make a deal right now, shall we?"

Don disappeared and was replaced by a map of space. It showed Earth, its moon, and in between them, a small, highlighted dot labeled L-21. "This is where we'll be waiting, whether you accept this invitation or not. You have the Repent, something I want, and you want me dead, something you want. So why not settle this once and for all, no?

"Upon your arrival, you'll immediately notice my fleet. We will not attack, and ask on your code of honor that there is a ceasefire between us."

"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Sonny asked suspiciously.

"Even terrorists have their honor, Captain." The screen turned into a view of a city in ruins. "This is the area inside the colony. Rob Schneider, this is where our final battle will commence. You are to come here with two other, and I will do the same. I ask, and command my own, that this fight remain between only us, and that we are not interfered with. These four people may do whatever they please as long as we are not disturbed. How does that sound, Schneider?"

Rob reviewed the conditions in his head. He could feel all eyes on him, waiting. Part of him thought it was a trap. The other part pushed to kill Don with his own hands, no matter what the risks. This gave him the chance he needed.

"You're on, Don."

"Excellent!" Don's face appeared once more. The man grinned. "We'll be waiting." Don reached forward and the screen turned to static.

All eyes turned back to Rob. He felt them watch as he crossed the room slowly to turn off the screen. He bit his lip and turned to face his silent companions. "How long before we reach L-21, Sonny?" He asked quietly.

"We can be there by nine tomorrow morning."

Rob looked down at his feet. "Let's get there then."

Sonny nodded. He turned to the other two pilots. "Get out there and see to it that his Gundam is ready for tomorrow. He's gonna need it. Jake, tell Katie to meet us in the cafeteria as soon as possible." The two saluted and were gone. Sonny sighed, and motioned to the couple to follow as he began to leave.

Rob looked up, and found Rachel staring at him. His eyes met hers momentarily, and he had to look away. With a deep breath, he walked up to her and offered his arm. Though she continued to walk next to him, she didn't take it.

*****

"It's not very big. Sorry, but all the rooms are the same size."

Sonny pushed the blue button on the keypad next to the door, and the door swished open. Behind it was their new rooms, for the third time. Their bags were already set on the beds. Both beds were covered by white sheets and each one sat against the wall. "Hope it's comfortable."

In the back was the entrance to the bathroom, which had one shower. Against the wall to the left of the door was a computer, and above the right-side bed was another LCD screen.

"I'm going to leave you here, Rob. Rachel, I'd like you to come with me to meet Katie. She was excited when she heard another girl had come aboard." Rachel agreed. She talked into the hallway, not looking at Rob.

Sonny disregarded it, or just didn't notice. "Take a shower or something. We'll be back shortly." The door shut behind them.

Rob didn't hesitate. He did just that.

**10 – Mar. 7, C.E. 71**

Rob walked into the cafeteria like a zombie. The cook offered him good morning and tossed a tray of food at him. He took it and dragged himself over to where the two girls sat chatting.

"Hey sleepyhead." Rachel said as he sat down. Rob mumbled something incoherent. "Finally decided to wake up I see."

Katie laughed and tossed her hair back. "Men are always a pain." She said. Katie reminded Rob of her brother on sight, with the exception of having long blond hair and breasts. "All you guys do is eat, sleep, and poop."

Rob nodded and lazily took a bite from his plate. The small talk was making him feel uneasy. Then again, this morning none of the members of the Exodus was exactly settled.

"You two have a little too much fun last night?" Katie asked grinning.

Rachel blushed. "Of course not! Not on the first night!"

"Yes." Rob interjected. Rachel punched his arm.

Katie laughed. "Share some of that action?"

"Maybe sometime." Rob winked at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel exclaimed as she stole his tray, teasingly.

Rob blinked and stuck his fork in his mouth. "Hmm…metal doesn't taste very good." The fork swished from side to side.

Rachel sighed and pushed the tray back. "What am I going to do with you?" They laughed weakly, and grew silent as the two girls watched Rob eat.

"What?" He looked around, but realized they were the only ones in the room. He turned back. "Am I doing something odd?"

"No, you're fine." Rachel said, folding her arms on the table in front of her.

Rob shrugged and finished the meal, becoming uneasier with the silence and the staring. They watched silently as he finished, walked the tray to the counter, and came back.

Before he sat down, Katie spoke up. "It's almost 8:30, Rob." She said quietly.

Rob looked across the room at a clock. "Yeah…" He looked down at Rachel. "I guess I should go and get myself dressed. Are you coming with me?"

"Sure." She stood up. "I'll be sure to catch you later Katie." The two waved to each other, and Rob and Rachel left the room.

*****

Rob turned the light and fan off as he walked out of the bathroom. The towel around his neck was itchy; it annoyed him. Patting the back of his neck with it, he walked over to where Rachel sat watching the TV.

As he picked up his jeans, Rachel clicked the screen off. "Captain Holland was just here."

"Oh?" He stood up to pull his pants on.

She nodded. "He said we're there." She stood up, looking at the floor. Rachel brought her head up. "Ever tell you that you look sexy when you're all wet?" Tears had begun to form in her eyes.

Rob smiled at her. He leaned over without a word and gave her a deep kiss on the lips. When they pulled away, she began sobbing.

Rachel threw her arms around him in a tight hug, crying into his chest. Rob hugged her back, tight enough to make sure she knew he was there and to catch her if she dropped to her knees.

"I don't want to lose you Rob." She managed to say.

"I don't want to leave either. I love you Rachel; I promise I'll come back from this thing safely."

She just cried harder. They stood there for a long time, embraced, until finally the Captains voice called for Rob over the Exodus's intercom.

Rob sat her down on the bed where she attempted to calm herself down. He walked to a dresser and pulled out a sleeveless white shirt and a black button-down t-shirt. He dressed himself and picked up the cross lying on top of the dresser.

He put the black and silver cross around his neck, not bothering to tuck it into his shirt this time. When the necklace flopped down to the middle of his chest, he shuddered.

Fastening his belt as he walked, Rob took a seat next to Rachel one more time. For the most part, she had forced herself to stop crying.

"Rachel." Rob took her hand." I love you. I promise I'll come back, no matter what." He brushed a tear off her face. "Alright?"

She took a deep breath and smiled at him sadly. "You'd better."

Rob gave her a tight hug. He pulled away, and they kissed again. Rob regretted having to pull away. He only wanted to be with her forever; he never wanted their lives to be like this.

He stood up reluctantly, grabbing the pistol he'd taken from the dead ZAFT soldier and kept hidden. He hoped he wouldn't need to use it, but he tucked it in between his pants and body just incase.

Rob walked stiff legged out the door, feeling too ashamed to look back at Rachel. The door closed behind him with a slow hiss. He walked away slowly, believing he could still hear her crying.

*****

"This is boring. Why are we here?"

"'Cuz the Captain told us to be."

"Why don't we just assault the Alpha Male?"

"'Cuz we made a deal."

"With a terrorist! You really think that bastard's going to keep his deal?"

"Yes."

"You trust people too much Jake."

Rob sighed as he listened to Michael and Jake talking over the intercom. The three were currently in their Gundams inside of the colony L-21. As Rob listened to the two talk about nothing, he constantly scanned the horizon of the ruined city. He was feeling increasingly uneasy with every minute that passed. He couldn't wait for Don to show up. He couldn't wait to kill him.

"What's up, Rob?" Jake asked him. "You're quiet."

The Crimson walked to his side. It moved on to take a seat in front of a crumbled building, looking oddly human-like.

Rob blinked. "Uhm, nothing." He said to them. "I'm fine."

"Awh, someone scared?" Michael said rather crudely. Rob's eyes narrowed. "I'll take good care of your girl when you don't come back."

"Michael!" Jake yelled.

"What?"

"Shut the hell up!"

There was a moment of silence before Michael spoke up again. "Sorry man." The Challenger began to pace back and fourth. "I just don't think I've been this nervous in a long time. And I just…you know. Didn't mean any harm."

"None taken." Rob said quietly.

A short, awkward silence followed, interrupted by a sudden beeping from Repent. It showed three objects approaching; all three of them were unidentified.

"They're here!" Michael exclaimed.

"Already told the captain." The Crimson stood up to stand on the right side of Repent. Challenger stepped forward to stand on the left.

Rob took a step forward so that if someone had played connect the dots, the three would have formed a small triangle.

The three Wulfs landed, and mockingly took the same formation.

"I see you remained faithful to your word, Don." Rob said as they landed.

"I have my honor, Schneider." Don's suit was painted a gray and silver combination; where as the two with him were dark green. All three of them had the Wulf Project's signature paw print on their right shoulder, and the two dark green suits were less boxy and different looking from Don's. Rob recognized none of them were GINN's.

"For the sake of suspense, allow me to explain just what these things are." Don said, reading Rob's mind. "My companions here are prototype Zaku's. They're higher quality than GINN's, so don't be too cocky. I can guarantee you that they'll put up a good fight."

"Damn terrorists." Michael mumbled.

"As for myself, I call this thing a Gelgoog." The Gelgoog was taller and bulkier than the Zaku's, thought they shared the same Cyclops eye. It had two shoulder spikes, it's beam gun was attached to its right leg, and it had a very large oval shield on it's back. "Only one of 'em around, and I've wanted to test it for ages. I hope you don't disappoint me."

Rob wished Don could see the glare on his face as he looked at the suit.

Don stepped forward a little, and Rob mimicked him.

With the Repent and the Gelgoog now standing about ten feet apart, Don spoke up with a hint of excitement. "Shall we begin?"

Rob pictured a huge grin on the bastard's face. "That eager to die, Don?"

Don laughed. "You're the one that'll die here, Rob. Die like the dog you are."

Silence fell. Rob ignored everything, absolutely everything, except for Don's Gelgoog. He thought back to the beginning of this mess. The death of his father, the shooting, the fall of Cyrus 8, the chase down to Earth, the death of his friends.

Rob felt a deep hatred for Don. He told himself now that he'd give everything to make the man in front of him dead.

Rob tossed away Repent's shield. With its now free left arm, he drew a saber and brought it up with a vertical slash at the Gelgoog.

Don did the same. The red and orange blades clashed together, creating sparks. "Excellent!" Don exclaimed. "Show me your power!"

Repent warned him of something coming for the cockpit. Another saber. Rob flipped the Gundam's hips out of the way and sprang backwards.

Don's Gelgoog dropped its arms to its sides. "That's not all you've got, is it Schneider?"

With Repents free hand, the right, Rob grabbed his gun and shot at Don. Don avoided the beams with ease, turned his back and boosted off.

"Where the hell you going?" Rob heard Michael scream after the terrorist leader. Rob opened the Repents wings and pursued.

Don toyed with him for several miles, easily dodging shots and occasionally returning fire. When Rob could no longer see his companions, Don stopped and faced him. "Now we can really be alone." The Gelgoog lifted its gun and shot at the Gundam. Rob maneuvered into a roll and returned one shot before jumping into the air.

Don's weapon followed him up. Rob fended them off with his saber. The Repent landed, returned three shots deliberately aimed at the ground in front and slightly to the sides of Don's suit. He heard the man curse as he realized it was a distraction.

The Repent charged quickly. Rob knew where Don was, and he swung his saber at the area where the Gelgoog's cockpit should be.

Repent's saber connected with nothing.

As the dust settled slightly, Rob sensed something flying at him from the right. Repent jumped backwards out of the dust just in time to avoid a beam.

The two let the dust completely settle, putting them face-to-face once more.

"That was an interesting tactic. Too bad you haven't figured out how to use that handy dandy monitor of yours. You know, the one that tells you where your opponent is. It kinda looks like that game Battleship."

Rob cursed. He hadn't even thought about using it.

He watched as Don holstered his rifle and drew the second saber once more. The Gelgoog connected the two, creating a beam staff. Don charged the Repent once again.

Rob began firing his rifle. Don's Gelgoog lifted off the ground, flying forward using thrusters on its back and in its feet, and twirled its staff in front of itself. The twirling staff slashed the beams that Rob had fired; none of the shots ever made it past the staff.

"Shit!" Nothing was working. The Repent used its own feet and wing thrusters to dash backwards, firing blindly as he flew. Don managed to keep up with the Gundam, deflecting the beams.

Then the Repent hit something, bringing the suit to a rough halt. Rob paused, confused as to why he had stopped moving. The next thing he knew, the Gelgoog was in his face. Don slammed into the Repent with his suits shoulder, like a football player, and the Repent broke through whatever had stopped it from moving and hit the ground hard.

Inside the cockpit, Rob was tossed around and suddenly very happy the headrest of his seat was cushioned. He looked up to see Don's saber hovering over him. Rob hooked his right arm so that the beam rifle pointed at the Gelgoog.

He fired as the saber came down.

Expecting death, Rob was surprised. Don had taken off the Repents left arm with its orange saber, and the Repent's shot had taken off the Gelgoog's head. The Repent's wings were damaged as well. Half of the thrusters located in them were destroyed.

Rob was confused. Why didn't Don kill him? As the Gelgoog took a short, recoiling step back, Rob aimed and fired again. Don was aware enough that he dashed out of the way in evasion.

Rob quickly got Repent on its feet. "Why didn't you kill me, Don?"

"What good would it do if I destroyed what I was after?"

Rob narrowed his eyes. "You should have taken the chance." He used what was left of the wing thrusters to charge at the Gelgoog. Rob fired as he flew, aiming at the cockpit. The Gelgoog continued to use the staff to deflect the beams.

Rob maneuvered quickly enough that Don was blocking shot after shot from several sides. Still, he blocked them with the skill of a samurai.

Rob knew he had to get rid of the hand that was holding the staff. He delivered a shot to the ground in front of Don, creating the same dust cloud effect again. Don chuckled. This time, rob continued to fly around to the back of the Gelgoog. He aimed at the right shoulder joint and fired.

Don realized what was going on too late. As he tried to turn, the beam blew off the arm wielding the beam staff.

The Gelgoog pulled its rifle and began firing as it circled to the left.

Rob did the same, firing at Don as he flew to the right. The Gundam protested constantly as its wings were damaged and beams nicked various body parts. As the two circled, they drew closer and closer to each other.

Rob was finally at the distance he wanted to be. When he saw the Gelgoog's rifle light up, he lowered himself just enough that the beam grazed the Repent's right shoulder. From there, an almost squatting position, he dashed in to close the small distance between him and Don. As Don adjusted his aim, Rob brought the Repent's own arm up underneath the Gelgoog's wrist. He lifted Repent's arm up just in time; the Gelgoog's next shot went over the Gundam's head.

With the Repent's right leg, Rob kicked the Gelgoog in the stomach, pushing the machine back. Rob dropped the gun and drew his right side saber. Swinging it horizontally, the saber put a deep slash in the Gelgoog's chest.

Rob swung again, but Don avoided it and shot as he moved back. The beam caught Repent's right hip.

The Gundam staggered and Rob fought to keep it standing. When he settled, Don's Gelgoog had its sights slightly above the Repent's cockpit.

The second Rob saw the rifle glow, he threw Repent's beam saber. The Repent was hit in the chest and it fell onto its back. Inside, Rob was rocked around and cut up by flying metal and glass.

With one of the few monitors still working, Rob saw the Gelgoog laying on its side, Repent's saber sticking out of it.

Rob also saw the cockpit open. Don climbed out. "Damn." Rob cursed. He quickly opened his own cockpit and jumped out, pulling the gun as Don began to sprint off towards an area of ruined, but still standing buildings.

Rob fired two shots, but they were ineffective. He cursed again, jumped down from his Gundam, and pursued Don Wulf.

The colony shook, followed by a loud explosion. Daring to look back, Rob saw that Don's Gelgoog had exploded, possibly self-destructed. A bullet ricochet off the ground in front of him, and rob snapped back around to face Don as he raised his gun and took off running again. Rob ran after him as fast as possible, staying far enough not to get shot but close enough to keep Wulf in sight.

Overhead, two damaged Gundams flew above him. The Challenger and the Crimson sped by rather low, forcing Rob to stop and shield himself as the wind they created blew dust and debris at him.

He was distracted for another moment as he watched them land. When he turned back around, searching for Don and disregarding them, he felt a sudden sharp pain in his left side as his body jerked involuntarily.

Rob gagged, coughing up blood. He felt his knees buckle as his vision blurred quickly. He lost all his breath, and fell to his knees, covering the area of pain with his left arm, placing the hand with the gun on the ground to support him. He blinked and brought his left hand away from his body to see it was covered in blood. Dark, red blood.

He had been shot.

Rob looked up at where Don stood ahead of him, gun at his side, and grinning. "You never turn your back to an opponent, Schneider." The man called. "I'm not going to kill you. Yet. I haven't toyed with you enough. Assuming you survive that wound, feel free to stop on over." Don jerked his thumb at the building behind him. "I'll be waiting in the lounge, drinking some coffee." He put his gun away in a holster he had clipped to his right leg. "I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in your performance so far." Don said as he shook his head and walked away.

On his knees, Rob doubled over so that his head and right forearm were on the ground, clutching his side with the other arm tightly. The black and silver cross swung around in front of his eyes, and he watched it feebly. Images of his old life flashed through his head. His family, school, his friends. The memories collided with the war; With the Encounter, and the orphanage, with Mark and Erika, and Sonny and his crew. The next thing he pictured was Don, slaughtering his father, laughing the whole time.

Rob coughed up a little more blood, gritting his teeth to prevent himself from screaming in pain. After a moment, he forced himself to take off his belt and he brought it up to his waist, where the wound was. He wrapped it around himself, using the belt to hold the black t-shirt against his body as compression. As he tightened the belt, he did scream in pain. His shoulders tensed and he gripped the guns handle until he thought his hand would break. Taking a deep breath, Rob forced himself to stand up, slowly. Fighting against the dizziness, he staggered towards the building Don had picked for their final brawl.

*****

Rob looked around the dimly lit room. He thought it looked a lot like a doctors waiting room. The place was in ruins; tables and chairs were overturned, debris littered the place, and the walls had begun to crumble.

To the corner left, a door had been left open. Rob moaned and, holding his side, followed the corridor. He was disturbed by the fact that blood had already begun to run down to soak through his jeans, on his left thigh. Rob hoped he'd be able to make it a little bit longer. At least until he killed Don.

Rob stuck close to the wall, keeping his gun pointed ahead of him. He walked through the opened door into another faintly lit room.

Rob entered the room cautiously, trying to point his gun in all directions. He found the light switch and flipped it on while keeping his concentration straight ahead. The lights came on to reveal a laboratory of some sort; long past used and completely ruined. The bodies of children long since dead lay on operating tables. They made Rob shiver.

He moved forward slowly, still clutching his side, shutting the kids out. The blood loss was getting to him, but he forced himself forward, focused only on revenge.

His ears picked up a crunch of glass from the left. Rob spun quickly, gun cocked and ready. There was nothing there but a shelf. He relaxed a hair. The moment he lowered his gun instinct told him to duck, and he followed it. Sure enough, a bullet slammed into the shelf; not meant for them, but for him. Without daring to look back, Rob rolled off to the right, listening to the bullets ricochet off the ground. He hit a wall and got to his knees quickly, but too soon. A bullet rammed into his right arm.

Rob cried in pain, falling to the ground. He lay there a minute, still grasping his gun and trying to cover both wounds at the same time.

"Sad ending for you, eh mate?"

Rob looked up. Don stood over him, gun pointed and ready. Rob forced himself to sit up against the wall. With pain, he looked Don in the eyes. "Don't count me out yet." He said through gritted teeth.

"What more can you do? Give up, Schneider. Your reign of Repent is over!" Don sneered, lowering his gun to aim at Rob's heart.

With what strength he had, Rob raised his gun to point at Don's head. His right arm screamed in protest.

"Ha! Look at you! Bleeding in two places and still too stubborn to realize you're finished! Just die, you dog!"

Rob used effort to smile. "Whoever gets the last shot wins. I said don't count me out yet Don." He tightened his grip on the trigger.

"Damn coordinator! I'll kill every last one of you. For a blue and pure world!"

"What goes around comes around, buddy." Rob panted.

Don made a disgusted face. Silence fell in the room, broken by Rob's painful panting. Two shots rang in unison across space; reaching out to those who cared.

-End

**Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Repent**

After Forever

April 17, C.E. 71- Encounter at Marshall Islands between Archangel and Le Creuset Team. Strike and Aegis Gundams lost.

May 8, C.E. 71- Battle of JOSH-A. Operation Spitbreak. An unsuccessful ZAFT attempt to capture Earth Alliance Atlantic Headquarters. Reason for failure: Cyclops System.

May 25, C.E. 71- Battle of Port Panama. First deployment of EAF mass-produced GAT-01 Strike Dagger. First deployment of ZAFT Gungnir EMP weapon. Destruction of Panama Mass Driver by ZAFT.

June 15 – 16, C.E. 71- Battle of Orb. EAF attempt to take control of Orb's Mass Driver. Orb's first deployment of MBF-M1 Astray. EAF first deployment of GAT-X Forbidden, Calamity, and Raider. Orb falls in under 24 hours. Self destruction of Orb's Mass Driver.

June 28, C.E. 71- Third Battle of Victoria. ZAFT loses control of Victorian Mass Driver in Africa to EAF. Mass Driver left in tact.

July 12, C.E. 71- Battle of Mendel. Death of former PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne. First deployment of Dominion. Formation of the Three Ships Alliance. Successful hand off of N-Jammer Canceller intelligence from ZAFT to EAF.

September 23, C.E. 71- Battle of Boaz, Operation Peacemaker. Destruction of ZAFT space fortress Boaz by nuclear warfare.

September 26 – 27, C.E. 71- Second Battle of Jachin Due. Decisive battle of the First Bloody Valentine War. Deployment of ZAFT's super weapon GENESIS. Heavy losses to both fleets. Destruction of Calamity, Forbidden, Raider, and Dominion. Destruction of GENESIS. Death of PLANT Chairman and ZAFT Commander-in-chief Patrick Zala. ZAFT fleet retires.

March 10, C.E. 72- Junius Treaty. Official end of the First Bloody Valentine War.

March 11, C.E. 72

The sun glowed brilliantly as twilight approached. It reflected off the warm water and bounced away into the peaceful sky.

The couple linked arms. They strolled along the beach; a natural look. The breeze drifted through their hair smoothly. They walked together in silence. Their destination was in sight; a small pier on a quiet section of the beach. They walked calmly to the end of it where a small memorial stone stood.

These were the graves of the people who had shown the couple why they needed to keep fighting. These two were the last that the couple would ever see from their past life; A life that seemed to take place years ago.

The graver marked the passing of a couple who had seen so much. The two were unfairly victims of a bloody war that was not fit for a Valentines Day.

The couple linked arms and were silent as they paid respects. The boy knelt down, wordlessly removing a folded red cloth from his pocket.

From within this cloth he withdrew a fine replicated necklace. He dangled the replica from his hands as he leaned forward. The original emerged from around his neck, falling forward on a silver chain to suspend a black cross in the air.

He spread the chain in the hands to its full length. He put the necklace around the marker of his friends who had died for his life.

The young man stood up. The girl knelt down with him now. She carried a bouquet of flowers in her hand. The girl gently sat them down before the marker as the man stood up.

The young man held out his hand. His wedding ring glistened in the setting sun. The girl took his hand in her own, which housed a beautiful diamond ring. She paused to look at the marker.

"Last time we'll be here?"

"I hope not. They wouldn't want that."

The girl shook her head. She hugged her companion tightly. "I miss them."

The boy nodded. His head rested on her shoulder. He hugged her back; his touch was gentle and caring. "I know."

The girl felt a knot in her throat. She felt tears fill her eyes. She told herself not to cry, not here, not now. Her body disobeyed. The girl buried her head into his shirt and cried.

They stood there until twilight had settled. They were just two dark silhouettes to the dark angel crouched in the distance.

-Fin.

Repent 64


End file.
